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BROMOIL PRINTING 

AND 

BROMOIL TRANSFER 


BY 

DR. EMIL MAYER 

ii 

PRESIDENT OF THE VIENNA CLUB OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS 


AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION 
FROM THE SEVENTH GERMAN EDITION 


FRANK ROY FRAPRIE; S.M., F.R.P.S, 

EDITOR OF AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY 



AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING CO., 
BOSTON 17, MASSACHUSETTS 
1923 








/ 

Copyright, 1923 

BY AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHIC PUBLISHING CO. 


Manufactured in the United States of America 
Electrotyped and printed, March, 1923 




THE PLIMPTON PRESS 
NORWOOD • MASS • U‘S*A 


JUN 22 '23 J 

©CIA? 05002 

_ <?'t£^ a , 



PREFACE 


T HE bromoil process has always been one in which 
it has seemed difficult to attain success. Though 
many books and articles on the subject have been pub¬ 
lished, every writer seems to give different directions and 
every experimenter to have difficulty in following them. 
The consequence is that almost every successful experi¬ 
menter with this process has developed methods of his 
own and has frequently been unable to impart them to 
others. One reason for this has been that each make 
of bromide paper varies in its characteristics from the 
others and that methods, which are successful with one, 
do not always succeed with another. Various bleaching 
solutions have been described, and, as the bleaching 
solution has two functions — bleaching and tanning, 
which progress with different speeds at different tempera¬ 
tures— a lack of attention on this point has doubtless 
been a frequent cause of unsuccess. Little attention 
has also been paid to the necessity for observing the 
temperature of the water used for soaking the print. 
The author of the present book has investigated these 
various points very carefully, and for the first time, per¬ 
haps, has brought to the attention of the photographic 
reader the need for an accurate knowledge of the effect 
of these different variables. 

In the following book he describes only a single 
method of work, without variations until the process is 
learned, though he does describe various methods of 
iii 


iv 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


work which may be used to vary results by the experi¬ 
enced worker. His method of instruction is logical and 
based on accepted educational principles. He describes 
one step at a time fully and carefully, explains the 
reasons for adopting it, and then proceeds to the next 
step in like manner. We feel sure that every reader, who 
will be reasonably careful in his methods of work and 
will follow these instructions literally, will learn how to 
make a good bromoil print. After attaining success 
in this way, the variations may be tried, if desired. 

While the author gives instructions for testing out 
papers to see if they are suitable, it may be advisable 
to record here the results of some American and Eng¬ 
lish workers. H. G. Cleveland in American Photog¬ 
raphy for February, 1923, recommends, in addition to 
the papers specially marked by their makers as bromoil 
grades, the following: Eastman Portrait Bromide; P. 
M. C., Nos. 7 and 8; and Wellington, Cream Crayon 
Smooth, Rough, or Extra Rough. He suggests that a 
rough test may be made of a new brand of paper by 
placing a small test strip in water at 120 0 to 140° 
Fahrenheit for a few minutes and then scraping the 
emulsion surface with a knife blade. If the coating 
is entirely soft and jelly-like, it will probably be suit¬ 
able for the process. If it is tough and leathery, it will 
be unsuitable, and, if a portion of the coating is soft but 
the other portion tough, then it will also be unsuitable. 
His experience is that Wellington Bromoil paper is en¬ 
tirely suitable for the process. Chris J. Symes in 
The British Journal 0] Photography for December 1, 
1922, recommends for bromoil the following English 
papers: Kodak Royal, white and toned; Vitegas, 
specially prepared for bromoil; Barnet Cream Crayon 


PREFACE 


v 


Natural Surface, Rough Ordinary and Tiger Tongue. 
For transfer, he has found the following suitable: 
Kodak Royal, white and toned; Kodak Velvet; Barnet 
Smooth Ordinary; and Barnet Semi-matt Card. 

The reader who is interested in bromoil transfer, will 
find the directions of Mr. Guttmann on this process 
slightly different from those of Dr. Mayer in minor 
points, but the worker who is far enough advanced to 
essay this difficult process will be able to recognize these 
discrepancies and choose the process which seems more 
useful to himself. 

Metal etcher’s presses for transfer are sold at com¬ 
paratively high prices in the United States, but second 
hand ones may often be found in the larger cities. Small 
wooden mangles with maple rolls may be had at fairly 
low prices from dealers in laundry supplies, and have 
been found to be useful. 

Following the style of the German original, italics 
have been freely used for the purpose of calling atten¬ 
tion to the most important stages of the process, rather 
than for the ordinary purposes of emphasis. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Mr. E. J. Wall 
for assistance in the first draft of the translation, and 
also in revision of the proofs. 


Frank Roy Fraprie. 


Boston, February, 1923. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface. . . *. i* 1 

Contents. 

Preliminary remarks. 1 

CHAPTER I 

Production of the Bromide Print — Definition of Perfect 
Print — The Choice of the Paper — Development — Con¬ 
trol of the Silver Bromide Print — Fixation. io 


CHAPTER II 

The Removal of the Silver Image — Bleaching — The 

Intermediate Drying. 29 


CHAPTER III 

The Inking-up — The Production of the Differential Swell¬ 
ing— The Properties of the Relief and Its Influence on 
the Character of the Picture — Effect of Warm Water—• 

Effect of Ammonia — The Utensils — Brushes — The 
Inks — The Support—Removal of the Water from the 
Surface of the Print — The Brush Work — Use of Dis¬ 
solved Inks — Use of Rollers — Resoaking of the Print 
during the Working-up — Removal of the Ink from the 
Surface — Failures — Alteration of the Character of the 
Picture by the Inking — The Structure of the Ink — 
Different Methods of Working — Hard Ink Technique 
(Coarse-grain Prints) — Soft Ink Technique — Sketch 
Technique — Large Heads — Oil Painting Style — Night 
Pictures — Prints with White Margins — The Swelled- 
grain Image — Mixing the Inks — Polychrome Bromoils 38 


CHAPTER IV 

After-Treatment of the Finished Print — Defatting the 
Ink Film — Retouching the Print — Refatting of' the 

Print — Application of Ink to Dry Prints. 

vi 


104 








CONTENTS vii 

PAGE 

CHAPTER V 

Transfer Methods — Simple Transfer — Combination 
Transfer with One Print-plate — Shadow Print — High 
Light Print— Combination Transfer from Two Prints . 115 

CHAPTER VI 

Oil vs. Bromoil.134 

CHAPTER VII 

Bromoil Transfer, by Eugen Guttmann — The Bromoil 
Print — The Choice of the Paper — The Machine — 
Printing — Combination Printing with One Bromoil — 

The Value of Combination Printing — Retouching and 
Working-Up — Drying.142 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Preparation of Bromoil Inks, by Eugen Guttmann — 

The Varnish — Powder — Colors — Tools — Practice of 
Ink Grinding — Ink Mixing — Permanency — Ink Grind¬ 
ing Machines.176 





BROMOIL PRINTING AND 
BROMOIL TRANSFER 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 

W E all know what great progress photography has 
made in the last few years. The most obvious 
sign of this advance is the fact that it has gradually 
escaped from the practice of literal reproduction of the 
objects seen by the lens, and slowly attained to the rank 
of a recognized means of artistic expression, so that it 
can justly be considered as a new branch which has 
grown out of the old tree of reproductive art. This 
pleasing development may primarily be ascribed to the 
fact that the practice of photography, which was origin¬ 
ally confined almost exclusively to professional workers, 
has gradually spread and has become a means of recrea¬ 
tion to the multitude in their leisure hours. It was the 
amateur who demanded new methods and apparatus and 
thus gave a new impulse to photographic manufacturing. 
Improvements of the most fundamental character were 
made in optical apparatus, in the construction of cameras 
of the most varied types, and in the fabrication of plates 
and films. An extraordinary number of novelties has 
appeared in these lines in the course of time; modern 
photographic apparatus makes possible the solution of 
problems which would not have been attempted a few 
years ago, and improvements are still appearing. 

The situation in the matter of printing processes is 
quite different. We are provided with apparatus and 
sensitive material for the production of the photographic 


i 



2 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


negative, in a perfection which leaves nothing to be de¬ 
sired. To produce a print from the negative, however, 
we had until recently no positive processes which were 
not well-known to previous generations. This may be 
confirmed by a glance at any photographic textbook 
written around 1880. The various printing processes, 
platinum, bromide, carbon, and gum, which were until 
recently the alpha and omega of printing technique, had 
been known for decades. Compared with the methods 
for the production of negatives, printing methods showed 
practically no advance; they remained in complete stag¬ 
nation. We can scarcely consider as an exception certain 
new methods brought forward in recent years, which 
proved unsuccessful and quickly disappeared from 
practice. 

These facts can only be explained by remembering 
that the positive processes, which were available to 
photographers and with which they had to be satisfied, 
were rather numerous and offered a considerable variety 
of effects. Nevertheless, a single characteristic was 
common to all previously known photographic printing 
processes — their inflexibility. Each of these processes, 
in spite of its individual peculiarities, could do nothing 
more than exactly reproduce the negative which was 
to be printed. It was possible to produce certain modi¬ 
fications of the negative image as a whole, by printing 
it darker or lighter, or by using a harder or softer work¬ 
ing process. Changes on the negative itself for the pur¬ 
pose of giving a more artistic rendering must, however, 
always be very carefully thought out in advance and 
effected by retouching, often difficult and not within the 
power of every photographer, or by other methods which 
change the negative itself. If such modifications of the 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 


3 


negative proved unsuccessful, it was irreparably lost; if 
they succeeded, the plate, as a rule, could no longer be 
used in any different manner. The possibility of under¬ 
taking radical changes which might realize the artistic 
intentions of the worker on the print itself, in order to 
save the negative, and especially of planning and carry¬ 
ing out the deviations from the original negative, which 
expressed the worker’s artistic feelings, during the print¬ 
ing, was not afforded by any previously known printing 
methods. A single exception was found in gum print¬ 
ing, if the production of the image was divided into a 
series of partial printings. Each of these phases, how¬ 
ever, was in itself incapable of modification except for 
the possibility of doing a certain small amount of re¬ 
touching ; nevertheless, by means of efficient management 
of the single printings and by properly combining them, 
beautiful artistic effects could be obtained. This, how¬ 
ever, required an extraordinary amount of practice and 
skill, and a very considerable expenditure of time, and 
it must also be remembered that the failure of one of 
the last printings often destroyed all the previous work. 
Also, in gum printing, to have a reasonable expectation 
of success, the work must be thought out from the very 
beginning and carried out in exact accordance with a 
plan from which it was scarcely possible to deviate 
during the work, even when it became apparent that 
the desired result could not be satisfactorily obtained. 

The possibility of planning results during the course 
of the printing and carrying them out directly on the 
print itself did not previously exist. 

The first process to bring us nearer to this ideal and 
make possible a freer method of working was oil printing. 
The technique of this process consisted in sensitizing 


4 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


paper which had been coated with a layer of gelatine, 
by means of a solution of potassium bichromate, and 
of printing it under the negative. The yellowish image 
was then washed out; the bichromate had, however, pro¬ 
duced various degrees of tanning of the gelatine, corre¬ 
sponding to the various densities of the silver deposit 
in the negative. The lighter portions, which had been 
protected from the action of light by the dense parts 
of the negative, retained their original power of swelling 
and could therefore later absorb water. The shadows, 
however, corresponding to the transparent parts of the 
negative, were tanned, had lost their absorptive power, 
and had become incapable of taking up water. Conse¬ 
quently, the high lights swelled up fully in water, the 
shadows remained unchanged, and the middle tones 
showed various degrees of swelling corresponding to the 
gradation of the negative. If the print was blotted off 
and greasy inks spread upon it by means of a properly 
shaped brush, the inks were entirely repelled by the 
swollen high lights which had absorbed water, and com¬ 
pletely retained by the fully tanned shadows, while the 
middle tones, in proportion to the amount of tanning, 
retained or repelled the greasy ink more or less com¬ 
pletely. 

In this process, for the first time, there was found a 
possibility of changing various parts of the image abso¬ 
lutely at the worker’s will, even during the progress of 
the work. By the use of harder or softer inks it was 
possible to color the swollen high lights more deeply, 
or to hold back the shadows so that they did not take 
up all the ink that was possible. It was possible to 
leave certain parts of the print entirely untouched and 
work up other parts to the highest degree; in short, oil 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 


5 

printing opened the way to free artistic handling of 
the print. 

Thus, the oil process was the first photographic print¬ 
ing process in which we were completely emancipated 
from the previous inflexibility which ruled in all printing. 

Nevertheless, a number of disadvantages attach to oil 
printing which hinder its general use. The most im¬ 
portant shortcoming of this process is that bichromated 
gelatine as a printing medium can only reproduce a 
comparatively short scale of tone values. The produc¬ 
tion of prints from contrasty negatives is therefore im¬ 
possible, for the shadows are much overprinted before 
details appear in the high lights, or on the other hand, 
there is no detail in the lights if the shadows are fully 
printed. This difficulty can be only partly overcome 
by the most skilful use of inks of various consistency. 
It is indeed possible to ink up the lights by the use of 
very soft ink, but this does not replace the missing 
details; and overprinted shadows, which it is tried to 
improve by keeping down the quantity of ink applied, 
appear empty. Thus it happens that most of the oil 
prints yet exhibited show a certain muddy family like¬ 
ness, which, at first, when the process was new, was 
considered to be advantageous on account of the novelty 
of the effect, but later received deserved criticism. A 
second disadvantage of the oil print is the fact that it is 
not possible to observe the progress of the printing on 
the bichromated gelatine film. The brownish image on 
a yellow background is very deceiving, and it is usually 
necessary to determine the proper amount of printing 
for each individual negative by actual experiment, and 
to make additional prints by means of a photometer. 

Another inconvenience of other previously known 


6 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


printing processes, to which oil printing is also subject, 
comes from the fact that the great majority of negatives 
are now made with small cameras. On account of the 
extraordinary perfection of modern objectives, the small 
negatives produced by modem hand cameras can be 
enlarged practically without limit. The advantages of 
a portable camera are so considerable that large and 
heavy tripod cameras have practically gone out of use, 
except for certain special purposes. On the other hand, 
however, direct prints from small negatives are, as a 
rule, entirely unsatisfactory from an artistic standpoint. 
If we desire to use any of the previously mentioned 
positive processes, including oil, to produce artistic ef¬ 
fects, we must first make an enlarged negative. This 
requires, in the first place, the production of a glass 
transparency from the small negative, from which we 
may prepare the desired enlarged working negative. 

Various workers held various views as to whether this 
requirement were a help or a hindrance, but it was 
universally accepted as a necessity. The way from the 
plate to the enlarged negative, nevertheless* always re¬ 
mained uncertain, tedious, and expensive. Simple as it 
may appear to be, it includes a whole series of stages 
where it is possible to come to grief. At every single 
step lurks the danger that undesired changes of gradation 
in the negative may result from inaccuracy in exposure 
and development, from the use of improperly chosen 
sensitive material, and from various other causes, and 
even if these factors are all correctly handled, there is 
still an unavoidable loss of detail. Therefore the path 
from the small original negative to the enlarged negative 
necessary in previously used processes is neither simple 
nor safe. 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 


7 


Naturally it was also necessary to travel this wearisome 
path in working the oil process, when it was desired to 
make large prints from small negatives. 

When it was announced in England that Welborne 
Piper had discovered a process which started from a 
finished silver bromide print instead of from a gelatine 
film sensitized with bichromate, new vistas were opened. 
If the process should prove to be practically useful, we 
could consider that all the previously mentioned diffi¬ 
culties were overcome at a single stroke. 

The principle of this process, bromoil printing, is the 
removal of the silver image from a finished silver bro¬ 
mide print by means of a bleaching solution while, 
simultaneously with the. solution of the silver image, the 
gelatine film is tanned in such a way in relation to the 
previously present image that the portions of gelatine 
which represent the high lights of the image preserve 
their capability of swelling, while the shadows of the 
image are tanned. 

Therejore the bromoil process is a modification oj oil 
printing, based not upon a bichromated gelatine film, 
but upon a completed bromide print. This represents 
extraordinary progress. The two previously mentioned 
disadvantages of oil printing are completely avoided in 
the bromoil process. We now have at our command the 
far longer scale of tone values of bromide paper and 
we can use the great possibilities of modification allowed 
by the highly developed bromide process. The difficulties 
of printing are completely removed, for we have at our 
command a perfectly visible image as a starting point. 
A further advantage which can not be too highly esti¬ 
mated is inherent in the bromoil process: complete in¬ 
dependence oj the size oj the original negative. 


8 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


When I began my investigations in the field of brom- 
oil printing, the process had, as far as practical value 
went, only a purely theoretical existence, as is the case 
in the early days of most photographic processes. The 
fact that it was possible to produce images on a bleached 
bromide print by the application of greasy inks was 
well established. The practical application of the process 
was absolutely uncertain and only occasionally were 
satisfactory results obtained. Most of the prints pro¬ 
duced in this way were flat and muddy. It is easy to 
understand that the process could find no widespread 
popularity while it was so incompletely worked out. 
The researches, which I then began, showed that most 
bromide papers took up greasy inks after development 
by any method and subsequent bleaching of the image. 
The pictures thus obtained, however, were muddy, flat, 
and not amenable to control, and therefore were less 
satisfactory than the bromide prints from which I had 
started. During the course of my work, I have succeeded 
in obviating these difficulties, in the first place, by pre¬ 
paring a satisfactory bleaching solution, next, by deter¬ 
mining what properties bromide paper must possess in 
order to give perfect bromoil prints, and, finally, by 
working out a series of other necessary conditions, which 
I have described in this book and which must be ad¬ 
hered to if the process is to work smoothly and certainly, 
and produce satisfactory results. 

The bromoil process, which is now completely mas¬ 
tered, offers, in brief, the following advantages: 

Simplicity, certainty and controllability of the printing 
material; 

Independence of the size of the negative and easy 
production of enlarged artistic prints; 


PRELIMINARY REMARKS 


9 


Freedom in the choice of basic stock and its surface; 

The possibility of freely producing on the print any 
desired deviations from the negative, during the work; 

Full mastery of the tone values without dependence 
on those of the negative; 

Independence of daylight, both in printing and in 
working up the print; 

The possibility of the most radical alterations of the 
print as a whole and in part during the work; 

Freedom of choice of colors; 

The possibility of preparing polychromatic prints with 
any desired choice of colors, and complete freedom in 
the handling of the colors; 

The possibility of comprehensive and harmonious modi¬ 
fications of the finished print; 

The possibility of producing prints on any desired kind 
of non-sensitized paper by the method of transfer^ 

The description of working methods will be divided 
into the following phases: 

I. Production of the bromide print; 

II. Removal of the silver image; 

III. Application of the ink; 

IV. After-treatment of the finished print. 


CHAPTER I 

PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 


AILURES in the bromoil process in the great ma- 



r jority of cases can be ascribed to the fact that the 
basic bromide print was not satisfactory. Therefore the 
method of preparation of the bromide print or enlarge¬ 
ment deserves the most careful consideration, for the 
bromide print is the most important factor in the prepa¬ 
ration of a bromoil print. The beginner , especially , can 
not proceed too carefully in making his bromide print. 

Because of the extraordinary importance of this point, 
we must first define what is here meant by a perfect 
bromide print. 

In deciding how to produce a satisfactory bromide 
print as a basis for a bromoil, we must exclude from 
consideration esthetic or artistic grounds. 

The bromide print must be technically absolutely per¬ 
fect, that is , it must have absolutely clean high lights, 
well graded middle tones , and dense shadows. Especial 
stress must be laid on the brilliancy of the high lights. 
It is best to compare these high lights with an edge of 
the paper which has not been exposed and is not fogged 
or, even better, with the back of the paper. The highest 
lights should show scarcely a trace of a silver precipitate 
and must therefore be almost as white as the paper 
itself. Negatives which do not allow of the production 
of prints as perfect as this should not be used while the 
bromoil process is being learned. 


io 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT n 


This apparently superfluous definition of a perfect 
bromide print has to be given in this way, because it 
only too often occurs in practice that the worker him¬ 
self is not clear as to what is meant by the expression, 
perfect bromide print. This may be partly ascribed to 
the fact that the silver bromide process — whether rightly 
or wrongly need not be determined here — has not been 
properly appreciated among amateurs who are striving 
for artistic results. Bromide printing has frequently 
been considered not to be satisfactory as an artistic 
means of expression, and has therefore been considerably 
neglected. In many quarters it is considered as just 
good enough for beginners. 

Nevertheless, the bromide process is per se an un¬ 
commonly flexible method and gives, even with a very 
considerable amount of overexposure or underexposure, 
that is, even when very badly handled, results which are 
considered usable. It is even possible that an improperly 
made bromide print, one for instance, which is soft and 
foggy, might in some circles be considered as esthetically 
more interesting than a perfect print. This is an un¬ 
deniable advantage of the process. It may also become 
a danger, if an imperfect bromide print is used as a 
starting point in the bromoil process. If anyone is not 
sure on this point, let him compare his own bromide 
prints with such samples as are frequently shown by 
manufacturers in window displays and sample books. 
He will then see what richness of tones and wealth of 
gradation are inherent in the process. If, however, an 
imperfect silver bromide print is used as a starting point 
for a bromoil, it can not be expected that the latter will 
display all the possibilities of this process. If the 
bromide print is muddy, the work of inking will be dif- 


12 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


ficult, and it will be impossible to obtain clean high 
lights. If it is underexposed and too contrasty, it can 
not be expected that the bromoil will show details in the 
high lights which were lacking in the bromide print. 
If the worker himself does not know that his silver 
bromide print is faulty, he is inclined to ascribe the 
difficulties which he finds in making the bromoil print 
and his dissatisfaction with the results, to the bromoil 
process itself. Most of the unsatisfactory results in 
bromoil work must be ascribed to the imperfect quality 
of the bromide print which is used, and this is the more 
important as this lack is not perceptible to the eye after 
the bleaching is completed. Whoever , therefore , desires 
to successfully practice bromoil printing , must first de¬ 
cide impartially and critically whether he actually knows 
how to make bromide prints, and must acquire full 
mastery of this process. 

The technically perfect bromide print made from a 
properly graded negative can, as will later be described, 
have its gradations changed in the bromoil process with¬ 
out any difficulty, and thus be made softer or more 
contrasty. The advanced bromoil printer who is a 
thorough master of the technique of the process will 
therefore easily be able to work even with poor nega¬ 
tives; when making his bromide prints from such 
negatives, he will consider the ideas which he intends to 
incorporate in the bromoil print and will make his 
bromide print harder or softer than the negative and 
at the same time retain the necessary cleanness of the 
high lights. 

The best starting point for a bromoil print, however, 
especially for the beginner, is and must be a bromide 
print as nearly perfect as possible. 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 13 

A suggestion for the certain obtaining of such prints 
may be added here. When we are working with a nega¬ 
tive with strong high lights, judgment as to the freedom 
of the bromide print from fog by comparison with an 
unexposed edge is not difficult. This is not the case 
with negatives which show no well marked high lights. 
In such cases it is advisable to determine what is under¬ 
exposure by making test strips in which details in the 
high lights and middle tones are lacking and, working 
from this point, determine by gradual increase of ex¬ 
posure the correct time which gives a perfectly clean 
print. 

The Choice of the Paper. — One of the most im¬ 
portant problems is to find a suitable paper for the 
process. Not all of the bromide papers which are on 
the market will give satisfactory results. It is only pos¬ 
sible to use papers whose swelling power has not been 
too completely removed in process oj manufacture by 
the use of hardeners. The principle of the bromoil 
process is that a tanning of the gelatine shall occur 
simultaneously with the bleaching of the silver bromide 
image. As we have already remarked, this does not 
affect the high lights and leaves them still absorbent, 
while the shadows are tanned and therefore become in¬ 
capable of taking up water. The half-tones are tanned 
or hardened to an intermediate degree and therefore can 
take up a certain amount of water. Therefore, in place 
of the vanished silver image , we get a totally or partially 
invisible tanned image in the gelatine film. 

The variously hardened parts of the gelatine film, 
corresponding to the various portions of the vanished 
bromide image, display the property acquired through 
different degrees of tanning by the fact that the portions 


14 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


of the gelatine which remain unhardened and which 
correspond to the high lights of the silver image 
formerly present, absorb water greedily. Consequently 
they swell up and acquire a certain shininess, be¬ 
cause of their water content; in addition they generally 
rise above the other parts of the gelatine film, which 
contain little or no water, and give a certain amount 
of relief when they are fully swelled. The portions of 
the film in which the deep shadows of the bromide image 
lay are completely tanned through, can therefore take up 
no water, and remain matt and sunken. This graded 
swelling of the gelatine film becomes more apparent, the 
higher the temperature of the water in which the film is 
swollen. 

If, however, the paper was strongly tanned in the 
process of manufacture, the gelatine has already lost all 
or most of its swelling power before it is printed and, 
although the bleaching solution in such cases can indeed 
remove the silver image, it can no longer develop the 
differences of absorptive power which are necessary for 
a bromoil print; for, although the bleaching solution can 
harden an untanned gelatine layer, it cannot bring back 
the lost power of swelling to a film which is already 
hardened through and through. 

Therefore bromide papers which have already been 
very thoroughly hardened in manufacture show no trace 
of relief after bleaching, and very slight, if any, shininess 
in the lights. This is the case especially with those 
white, smooth, matt, heavyweight papers which are 
especially used for postcard printing. When such papers 
are taken out of the solutions, as a rule, these run off 
quickly and leave an almost dry surface. It is generally 
not possible to make satisfactory bromoil prints on such 







PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 15 

papers. It is true that the image can be inked by pro¬ 
tracted labor; it is, however, muddy and flat and, as a 
rule, cannot be essentially improved even by the use of 
very warm water. Other types of bromide paper which 
have not been so thoroughly hardened may show no re¬ 
lief after bleaching, yet, after the surface water has been 
removed, they do show a certain small amount of shini¬ 
ness in the high lights when carefully inspected sidewise. 
With such papers the necessary differences of swelling 
can generally be developed if, as will later be more com¬ 
pletely described, they are soaked in very warm water 
or in an ammoniacal solution. It is rare to find in com¬ 
merce silver bromide papers which have not been hard¬ 
ened at all, or only very slightly hardened, in their 
manufacture. Such papers, because their films are very 
susceptible to mechanical injury, are not likely to stand 
the wear and tear of the various baths. On the other 
hand, as a rule, they usually produce a strong relief 
even in cold water, and therefore tend to produce hard 
prints. The greatest adaptability for bromoil printing 
may be anticipated from bromide papers which are 
moderately hardened during manufacture. 

To determine whether a given brand of bromide paper 
is suitable for bromoil work, an unexposed sheet of the 
paper should be dipped in water at a temperature of 
about 30° C. (86° F.) and the behavior of the gelatine 
film observed. If this swells up considerably and be¬ 
comes slippery and shiny, the paper has the necessary 
swelling power and can be used with success. 

On account of the great variety of bromide papers 
which are on the market, we have a very wide choice as 
regards the thickness and color of the paper and the 
structure of its surface. It may be remarked here that 


i6 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


papers of any desired surface, even rough and coarse 
grained papers, can be used for bromoil printing, as 
easily as papers with a smooth surface. The difficulties 
experienced with very rough surfaced papers in some 
other processes do not exist in bromoil. Because of the 
elasticity of its hairs, the brush carries the ink as easily 
into the hollows of the surface as to its high points. 

The thickness of the paper is of no importance in 
bromoil printing, except that the handling of the thicker 
papers is easier, because they lie flatter during the work 
and distort less on drying; also, as a rule, thick papers 
are easier to ink. 

Gaslight papers can also be used if their gelatine films 
satisfy the above mentioned requirements. Therefore 
we have the widest possible choice in the printing ma¬ 
terials for bromoil. 

A great number of bromide papers of different manu¬ 
facturers are well suited for bromoil printing; it is, how¬ 
ever, advisable to make a preliminary investigation as 
to the amount of hardening they have undergone, for 
it occasionally happens that different emulsions of the 
same brand show quite different grades of hardening, 
so that on one occasion it is possible to make bromoil 
prints on them without the least difficulty, while the same 
paper at another time may absolutely refuse to take the 
ink. On account of the great popularity of the bromoil 
process in recent years, it can be easily understood that 
some manufacturers might seek a wider sale for their 
products by claiming for them a special suitability for 
this process. It is therefore a wise precaution to pre¬ 
viously test even those brands which are advertised as 
specially adapted for bromoil printing, and not to depend 
too much on such claims. 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 17 

Development. — The processes of tanning in the film 
of a bromide print, produced by the bleaching of the 
silver image, which will be described* later, are of an 
extremely subtle nature. We must therefore endeavor 
to avoid all causes for damage in this process and 
especially everything which tends to harden the whole 
film even to the slightest degree. Any tanning, which 
affects the whole gelatine film, has the same effect as 
general fog in a negative. It is well known that almost 
all the developers used in photography have more or less 
tendency to harden the gelatine film. A very consider¬ 
able damage to the bromoil print through the use of a 
tanning developer might naturally be imperceptible to 
the eye. Yet this may at times manifest itself in a very 
undesirable and disturbing form, especially when the 
bromide paper has been so much hardened in manufac¬ 
ture that it possesses only just the necessary qualification 
for bromoil printing. It may then happen that the last 
remainder of swelling capacity can be taken from the 
paper by the use of a tanning developer. However de¬ 
sirable it might be and however it might simplify the 
process to be able to use any desired developer in pro¬ 
ducing the bromide print, to avoid trouble it must be 
observed that the use of developers which tan the film 
may seriously influence the result, even though it is pos¬ 
sible to get some kind of prints in many cases. If the 
worker is absolutely sure that the bromide paper which 
he is using is not strongly hardened and is therefore well 
suited for bromoil printing, he may undertake develop¬ 
ment with any one of the ordinary developers which he 
prefers. 

The developers, which do not exercise a hardening 
influence on the gelatine, are the iron developer and 


i8 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


amidol (diamidophenol hydrochloride). As the iron de¬ 
veloper is not really suited to this purpose on account of 
certain unpleasant qualities inherent in it, it is advisable 
to use amidol for the development of bromide paper for 
bromoil printing whenever possible, and the best de¬ 
veloper is composed as follows: 

Amidol . 1.7 g 12.3 gr. 

Sodium sulphite, dry.. 10 g 77 gr. 

Water. 1000 ccm 16 oz. 

The sodium sulphite is first dissolved in water, and 
the easiest way is to pour the necessary quantity of 
water into a developing dish and sprinkle the pulverized 
or granular dry sodium sulphite into it while the dish 
is constantly rocked; solution takes place almost in¬ 
stantly under these conditions. Larger lumps, which 
would stick to the bottom of the dish, must be imme¬ 
diately stirred up. As soon as the sodium sulphite is 
dissolved, the amidol should be added and this will also 
dissolve immediately. The addition should be made in 
the order described, for, if the amidol is dissolved first, 
the solution is often turbid. If dry sodium sulphite 
is not available, double the quantity of crystallized 
sulphite may be used. 

The amidol developer should be freshly prepared each 
time that it is used, as it does not keep in solution. 
The measurement of the quantities of amidol and sul¬ 
phite given above does not need to be made with the 
most painstaking care, as small variations in the quanti¬ 
ties are unimportant. 

In using amidol developer the greatest care must be 
taken to avoid allowing amidol powder, in even the 




PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 19 

smallest quantity, to come into contact with the bleached 
print ready for bromoil printing. Even the finest par¬ 
ticles of amidol, although invisible to the naked eye, 
will produce yellowish brown spots on the gelatine which 
penetrate through the film and into the paper itself. 
These dots and spots, especially if, as is usual, they occur 
in large numbers, will make the print completely use¬ 
less, and it is impossible to remove them. 

If amidol developer is not available, any other de¬ 
veloper which is desired may be used. As we have 
already stated, however^ certain possibilities of failure 
are to be anticipated, but will not necessarily occur. 

Every effort should be made to produce a bromide 
print as perfect as possible , with clean high lights. 

The best bromide prints or enlargements for bromoil 
printing are those which are correctly exposed , but are 
not developed out to the greatest possible density. A 
print which is thus fully developed is very satisfactory 
as a bromide but offers certain difficulties in bromoil 
printing, which will be described later. Therefore the 
development should be stopped as soon as the lights show 
full detail without any fog, but before the shadows have 
reached full density. The deepest shadows should then 
be of a deep greyish black, but should not be clogged 
up. When a bromide print is properly exposed, there 
is sufficient time between the appearance of the details 
in the lights and the attainment of the deepest possible 
black in the shadows to easily select the proper moment 
for cessation of development. It is, however, desirable 
not to go beyond this stage of development, for the 
reason that a very dense silver deposit distributed com¬ 
pletely through the gelatine emulsion to the paper sup¬ 
port is not easily bleached out. When this difficulty 


20 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


occurs, the bleaching solution is generally, but incor¬ 
rectly, blamed for it. If, in spite of this difficulty, 
complete bleaching is attained, the shadows of the 
image usually retain a yellowish color which cannot be 
removed by the baths which follow the bleaching. If 
it is intended to ink up the whole surface of such a 
print, this discoloration of the shadows is not import¬ 
ant, for it will be completely covered by the ink. But 
if the print is to be treated in a sketchy manner, and 
some parts of its surface are not to be inked, this can¬ 
not be successfully done on account of the yellowish 
coloring of the shadows. 

Underexposure must be carefully avoided, for details 
which are not present in the bromide print will, of 
course, not appear in the bromoil print. 

Overexposure will occasionally give usable results, if 
the development of the overexposed print is stopped at 
the proper point. In such cases, we must usually ex¬ 
pect some deposit in the high lights and consequently 
a certain fogging of the image, though this can often 
be overcome, at least partly, by swelling the print at 
a higher temperature. Perfect prints cannot be ex¬ 
pected, if the basic print is lacking in quality. If the 
overexposure is not too great, the print can be improved 
to a certain extent by clearing it in very dilute Farmer’s 
reducer. Treatment with this reducer has no deleterious 
effect on the later processes. The Farmer’s reducer 
should only be used for a slight clearing up of too dark 
parts of the bromide print; for this purpose the parts 
of the moist print which are to be reduced should be gone 
over with a brush dipped in very dilute reducer and 
immediately plunged into plenty of water, to avoid any 
spreading of the reducer into other parts of the image. 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 21 


Developing fog should naturally be avoided as much 
as possible. Fogging of the bromide print is caused by 
the formation of a more or less dense silver precipitate 
without any relation to the image over the whole surface 
of the print. As the bleacher takes effect wherever 
metallic silver is present in the film, the result in such 
cases is a general tanning of the film, which is detri¬ 
mental to the production of the necessary differences 
in swelling power in the gelatine. The tanned gelatine 
image is then also fogged. 

Consequently the best results may be obtained from 
very brilliant, but not excessively developed, bromide 
prints. 

We must also avoid falling into the opposite extreme 
in the development of the bromide print, by getting 
too thin prints lacking in contrast. In prints which are 
too thin, only a very small quantity of metallic silver 
has been reduced in the development, and this lies wholly 
on the surface of the film. Such prints usually show 
full detail, but the contrasts between the lights and the 
shadows are too small. Since the tanning produced by 
the later bleaching occurs because of the presence of 
metallic silver in the film, and since its intensity de¬ 
pends on the quantity of this silver, we cannot obtain 
the necessary difference in swelling power by bleaching 
the film of prints which are too thin because of insuf¬ 
ficient development. The result is a weak tanned image 
in the gelatine film; bromoil prints thus produced can 
consequently only exhibit a very short scale of tone 
values, and this cannot be essentially lengthened by 
the use of the bromoil process alone. Such bromide 
prints may find a special application in combination 
transfers, which will be described later. It is also pos- 


22 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


sible, under certain circumstances, to use incomplete 
development as a method for producing soft bromoil 
prints from contrasty negatives. 

Control of the Silver Bromide Print. — Although 
in bromoil printing the most various renderings can be 
obtained from a perfect bromide print, by variation of 
the temperature of swelling and by proper handling of 
the inking, it is also possible, under some circumstances, 
to vary the final result by proper treatment during the 
making of the bromide print, especially when we are 
not dealing with normal negatives. If, for instance, 
we have to deal with a very thin negative, it is pos¬ 
sible that even the extreme possibilities offered by the 
bromoil process are not sufficient to insure the attain¬ 
ment of the desired modulation, for, as will later ap¬ 
pear, the possibility of increasing the difference in 
swelling in the film is limited by the limited resisting 
power of the gelatine. In such cases, we must take 
advantage of the accumulation of all possible aids and 
therefore, in making the bromide print, do all that is 
possible in order to bring out desired objects, which are 
only indicated in the negative and do not show sufficient 
detail. 

Therefore, if we desire to increase the contrast of the 
negative in the final print, we should use a harder work¬ 
ing paper and add potassium bromide to the developer. 

If we desire to get soft prints from a contrasty nega¬ 
tive, we may use different methods. The simplest way 
is the use of a very rapid and consequently soft working 
paper. Ordinarily, however, this method is not suf¬ 
ficiently helpful. We must therefore also use suitable 
methods in later steps of the process, such as making 
the difference in swelling in the gelatine layer as small 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 23 

as possible in order to bring down the contrast, or inking 
up with soft inks. 

A very reliable process for the production of soft 
prints or enlargements, even from contrasty negatives, 
is the following: the proper exposure for the densest 
portions of the negative should be first determined by 
means of a trial strip; then a full* sized sheet of paper 
is exposed for exactly the time which has been deter¬ 
mined, soaked in water until it is perfectly limp, and 
then placed in the developer. As soon as the first out¬ 
lines of the image appear, the print is placed in a dish 
of pure water and allowed to lie there, film down. As 
soon as development has ceased, the print is taken out 
of water, dipped into the developer for an instant, and 
then immediately put back into the water. This method 
requires considerable time for full development, but pro¬ 
duces prints or enlargements of especial softness. In 
this process, the developer which is absorbed by the film 
is soon exhausted in reducing the heavy deposit in the 
shadows, so that their development ceases, while enough 
developer still remains unexhausted in the other por¬ 
tions of the image to keep on developing. With very 
dense negatives, developer warmed to 25° C. (77 0 F.) 
can be used for the production of soft prints, but it 
must be very much diluted and carefully used, for de¬ 
velopment proceeds very quickly. Very soft prints may 
also be obtained by bathing the exposed bromide prints 
for about two minutes in a one per cent solution of 
potassium bichromate before development. This solu¬ 
tion is thoroughly washed out of the print, and it is then 
developed. 

Yet with very hard negatives all these remedies fre¬ 
quently fail, because the high lights are almost com- 


24 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


pletely opaque to light because of their density. In 
such cases the negative itself must be improved. The 
ammonium persulphate reducer usually recommended for 
such plates, which acts more strongly on the lights than 
on the shadows, is, however, too uncertain in its action 
and may imperil the negative. It is better to adopt 
Eder’s chlorizing method , which enables one to improve 
too contrasty negatives in a convenient and certain 
manner. The principle of this process is as follows: 
the metallic silver of the negative is converted into 
silver chloride, which is again developed. This re¬ 
development is accomplished in such a way that the 
silver chloride on the surface of the film is first reduced 
to metallic silver; if development is continued, the re¬ 
duction is continued to the bottom of the film. The 
delicate details, lying on the surface of the film, are 
thus first developed, while development of the over- 
dense high lights, in which the silver deposit extends 
right through to the glass, is finished only after some 
time. It is therefore possible to stop development at 
the instant at which the shadows and half-tones are com¬ 
pletely redeveloped, while the overdense high lights are, 
for instance, only half developed, and therefore only 
half consist of metallic silver, the lower half being still 
silver chloride. If the development is interrupted at 
this stage and the negative placed in a fixing bath, the 
still undeveloped silver chloride is dissolved. The 
shadows and half-tones thus retain their original values, 
and only the overdense deposits in the shadows are re¬ 
duced. If the development is not stopped at this stage, 
but is carried through to completion, the negative is 
obtained unaltered, and the process can be repeated. 
If the second development is stopped too soon, the 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 25 

negative may be endangered and a very thin negative, 
lacking in contrasts, obtained. 

The practical application of the chlorizing process is 
effected by bleaching the negative in the following 
solution: 

Cupric sulphate .. 100 g 1 oz. 

Common salt- 200 g 2 oz. 

Water . 1000 ccm 10 oz. 

As soon as the negative is completely bleached, which 
should be judged not only by transmitted light but 
also by examination from the glass side, it should be well 
washed and immersed in a slow^acting developer. All 
these processes can be carried out in daylight, and the 
second development of the negative is best controlled 
by frequent examination of the glass side. Develop¬ 
ment should be stopped when the shadows and half¬ 
tones are blackened, and there is still a whitish film of 
silver chloride in the high lights. Observation of the 
negative by looking through it is not advisable, for the 
negative very soon appears dense by transmitted light, 
because the metallic silver formed in development masks 
the silver chloride. As soon as the development is con¬ 
sidered to have gone far enough, the plate should be 
rinsed and then fixed and washed in the usual manner. 
After a few trials, the judgment of the correct stage at 
which to stop development presents no difficulty. 

I ordinarily use the chlorizing process in the following 
way, which practically excludes any possibility of 
failure: the negative is completely bleached in the 
solution just mentioned, and then washed for five 
minutes. It is then developed in any desired developer 
until it shows by transmitted light practically the same 



26 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


density, though in a brownish color, as it had before 
chlorizing. It is then rinsed off, placed in a solution 
of hypo, not stronger than two per cent, and Carefully 
watched by light passing through the plate; it is taken 
out as soon as the desired stage is reached, well washed, 
and dried. In this modification of the chlorizing 
process the condition of the plate can be observed at 
every stage. The final negative, to be sure, does not 
consist of pure metallic silver, but as a rule of a com¬ 
bination of silver and silver chloride; but such nega¬ 
tives are sufficiently permanent for making prints and 
enlargements on bromide paper. 

It is also advisable to lessen the harsh contrasts in a 
normal negative, either by masking the more transparent 
parts on the glass side, or by holding them back in 
printing or enlarging. Briefly, every possible means 
should be employed in order to obtain as good and 
harmonious a bromide print as possible. 

The beginner is strongly recommended, however, in 
his first trials with bromoil, to start as far as possible 
with normal negatives and correct, and especially very 
clean, bromide prints. The use of this process for the 
improvement of the results from difficult negatives 
should be left for more expert workers. 

It is often desired to provide landscapes with clouds, 
and this can be easily attained if enlargements are used 
as the basis for bromoil prints. Acceptable results are 
given by a process, which has often been recommended. 
This is, after blocking out the sky on the negative, to 
enlarge the landscape, develop the print and again place 
it while still wet on the enlarging screen and expose 
for the clouds, disregarding the existing image, and then 
develop the clouds. 


PRODUCTION OF THE BROMIDE PRINT 27 

I might describe here another process for obtaining 
clouds, because it is especially suitable for the bromoil 
process. If there is no object in the negative which is 
cut by the upper edge of the plate, it is extremely easy 
to introduce clouds into such a landscape, and at the 
same time lengthen out the picture at the top. A cloud 
negative suitable for the landscape is chosen, and the 
relative exposures for the landscape and clouds found as 
accurately as possible by test strips. The landscape 
negative is then focused on the enlarging screen so that 
there is plenty of paper above the upper edge of the 
plate, and then the exposure is made while the upper 
part of the paper is covered with a card, which is kept 
moving constantly between the light source and the 
enlarging screen, so that the upper edge of the plate is 
not imaged on the screen. After the exposure is finished, 
the paper is shifted down on the screen until the upper 
edge of the paper comes at the place which was pre¬ 
viously occupied by the edge of the plate, the landscape 
negative is changed for the cloud negative, and the 
clouds are exposed on the upper and hitherto unexposed 
part of the enlarging paper, while the landscape is pro¬ 
tected from exposure by means of a piece of card, shaped 
like the previous one for the sky, and continually moved 
to avoid a sharp line of separation. In the subsequent 
development a perfectly uniform picture is obtained, 
in which there should be no visible trace of its compound 
nature. 

Obviously, in the preparation of the bromoil print, 
it is advisable to employ to the utmost the many possi¬ 
bilities which bromide printing offers. Thus too thin 
parts of a negative may be held back by proper block¬ 
ing out on the back and numerous other possible modi- 


28 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


fications, which have been described in textbooks and 
technical journals, but which cannot be further dealt 
with here, may be profitably employed. 

Fixation. — The developed bromide print should be 
well rinsed and fixed in the usual way. If the rinsing 
is omitted or is too superficial, complete or partial 
reduction phenomena may occur in the fixing bath, and 
make the print unusable. 

The bromide print should be left in the hypo solution 
for about io minutes, and care should be taken, if 
several prints are simultaneously treated, that they do 
not stick to one another. Then should follow thorough 
washing for removal of the hypo; if traces of hypo re¬ 
main in the film, the subsequent bleaching is rendered 
more difficult, as the image does not disappear but only 
turns brownish. While it is feasible to subject the 
bromide print to the bleaching process, as soon as it 
comes from the washing, an intermediate drying is an 
advantage; for the gelatine gains greater resistance by 
this drying. 


CHAPTER II 

THE REMOVAL OF THE SILVER IMAGE 


B LEACHING. — The bleaching process has the pur¬ 
pose of making the bromide print, correctly pre¬ 
pared according to the previously described method, 
suitable for the bromoil process. To this end the silver 
image must be made to disappear and in its place that 
condition of the gelatine produced which renders it pos¬ 
sible for it to take up the greasy ink. The bleaching 
solution has, there]ore, two junctions: it must remove 
the metallic silver, imbedded in the gelatine film, which 
forms the bromide image, and at the same time cause 
a tanning of the gelatine film corresponding to the image 
that disappears. In the place of the silver image there 
then exists an invisible tanned image in the gelatine film. 

There are a large number of chemical compounds 
known to photographic technique, which enable us to 
dissolve out the metallic silver imbedded in the gelatine 
film. Such are, for example, the many reducers which 
have found practical application. Many of these chemi¬ 
cals also cause changes in the gelatine simultaneously 
with the solution of the silver. But not one of the 
hitherto known bleaching solutions possesses the double 
power required of it: solution of the silver image and 
corresponding tanning of the film. Some produce too 
great a tanning which acts upon the whole film, and the 
result in inking-up is muddy flat prints, which do not 
lend themselves to artistic modification. With other 


29 


30 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


bleaching solutions a differential tanning of the gelatine 
is produced, but at the same time they so alter the 
surface of the gelatine that it becomes glossy all over, 
and only takes even soft inks with difficulty. 

My experiments have led to the compounding of a 
bleach which completely fulfils the requirements set for 
it; the silver image is quickly and completely removed, 
while simultaneously a tanning of the film, strictly 
analogous to the disappearing image, is effected; easier 
and more certain inking-up is rendered possible, and 
besides this the advantage is obtained that the differences 
of relief, produced in the gelatine by the bleaching 
process, can be influenced to a wide degree by varying 
the temperature of the water. The composition of this 
bleaching solution, which prepares the gelatine film in 
the most perfect manner for the bromoil print, is as 
follows, three stock solutions being required: 


I. Cupric sulphate_ 200 g 

Water . 1000 ccm 

II. Potassium bromide .. 200 g 

Water . 1000 ccm 


III. Cold saturated solution of potassium 


2 oz. 

10 oz. 

2 oz. 

10 oz. 
bichromate. 


A concentrated bleach is made by mixing: 

Solution I. 3 parts 

Solution II. 3 parts 

Solution III. 1 part 


To every 100 ccm of this mixture should be added 10 
drops of pure hydrochloric acid (10 drops to 3^ oz.). 
This concentrated bleach will keep indefinitely and 




REMOVAL OF THE SILVER IMAGE 31 

should be diluted before use with three to four times its * 
volume of water. The use of a more concentrated solu¬ 
tion is not advisable, as irregularities frequently occur 
in consequence of too rapid bleaching, especially towards 
the margins of the prints. 

The color of the concentrated bleach is green, or when 
diluted, yellowish; the solution must be absolutely clear. 
When the stock solutions are mixed there is usually 
some cloudiness, but this is cleared up by the hydro¬ 
chloric acid. By standing for a long time at low tem¬ 
peratures a precipitate is sometimes formed, but this is 
of no moment. The compounding of this bleach should 
be made with the greatest accuracy. Inaccuracies or 
modifications in its composition are serious, because al¬ 
though the solution does not lose in bleaching power, 
yet the invisible tanning action is then often not com¬ 
pleted in the desired manner. Too great an addition 
of hydrochloric acid for example, accelerates the process 
of bleaching, but the inking-up of prints thus bleached 
is frequently difficult. If the bleaching of the shadows 
of the bromide prints goes on slowly, the reason as a 
rule lies in the fact that the prints were overdeveloped 
and have an excessively dense silver deposit. 

The bromide prints should be immersed in this bleach¬ 
ing solution, after previous soaking in cold water. If 
they have been correctly made, the image rapidly grows 
weaker and after a few minutes its greyish-black color 
changes into a pale citron yellow. If the bromide print 
was developed too far, the bleaching takes rather longer, 
as the shadows, developed right through to the base, 
require a lengthy period for solution. If several prints 
are to be bleached at once, the best procedure is to 
place one print in the solution and turn it film side 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


32 

down when the first traces of bleaching are noticeable. 
Then the next print should be immersed with the film 
up and by thus proceeding gradually it is possible to 
bleach a large number of sheets simultaneously in the 
one dish. Continual movement will prevent the forma¬ 
tion of air bells. If air bells adhere to the film, they 
protect those places from the action of the bleach and 
dark points or spots of unchanged metallic silver re¬ 
main, the subsequent bleaching of which naturally pro¬ 
longs the process. The same applies to prints which 
lie on top of one another. 

With too slow bleaching, the hydrochloric acid may 
be gradually increased, at the most to double that pre¬ 
scribed; one should not hasten the bleaching process 
by warming the solution. The bleaching is rapidly 
effected in warm solutions; yet generally the film of 
moderately hardened papers is so altered that they 
swell up too much even in cold water and take the ink 
badly or not at all. The dilute bleaching solution will 
keep and may be used repeatedly as long as it acts; 
when it becomes exhausted, the slowing up of the bleach¬ 
ing cannot be hastened by the addition of hydrochloric 
acid. The chemical reactions in the bleaching bath are, 
according to Dr. P. R. von Schrott, as follows: 

2CuBr 2 + Ag 2 = 2AgBr + Cu 2 Br 2 

The cuprous bromide, Cu 2 Br 2 , which is formed, reduces 
the bichromate as follows: 

3Cu 2 Br 2 + 6 Cr 0 3 = 3CuBr 2 + 3 CuCr 0 4 + Cr 2 0 3 .Cr 0 3 

It sometimes happens that bromide prints, in spite of 


REMOVAL OF THE SILVER IMAGE 33 

long immersion in the bleaching solution, apparently 
will not bleach and only change their color to brown. 

The reason for this usually unimportant phenomenon 
is, as a rule, that such prints have not been sufficiently 
washed and still contain hypo. 

It may also happen that prints which have lain on 
top of each other in washing are badly washed in parts; 
then the image bleaches, but the film shows dark patches 
or streaks at those places which still contain hypo. 
Such apparently unbleached prints should be left for 
about 10 minutes in the bleaching solution; the dis¬ 
turbing coloration, whether of the whole picture or only 
of parts, disappears completely in the subsequent baths, 
even when the image had apparently remained at full 
strength. 

If such a print, apparently not bleached or spotty, is 
immersed in the sulphuric acid bath mentioned below, 
the discoloration of the film is quickly removed by its 
action; the print then often passes through a phase in 
which it appears to be a negative, the secondary image 
becoming visible on the yellow ground, and then bleaches 
out completely. With such prints it may also happen 
that it is only noticed after removal of the stain that 
unbleached traces of the silver image still remain. Then 
the bleaching must be repeated. 

If the color of the bromide print only changes to 
brown even after protracted immersion in the bleaching 
solution, otherwise retaining full gradation, and remain¬ 
ing unchanged even in the sulphuric acid bath, though 
it bleaches out in the hypo, the print cannot be inked. 
The reason for this difficulty is improper composition 
of the bleaching solution, or occasionally improper de¬ 
velopment and fixation of the bromide print. It may 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


34 

also be due to excessive use of the bleaching solution; 
3 to 4 ccm (50 to 70 minims) of concentrated bleaching 
solution should be allowed for every 13 by 18 cm (5 by 
7) print. 

Obviously all these processes may be carried out by 
diffused daylight. The bleached-out prints should be 
repeatedly washed, until the drainings are quite clear, 
and should then be immersed in the following bath: 

Sulphuric acid, pure. 10 ccm 77 min. 

Water . 1000 ccm 16 oz. 

In this bath any remaining color disappears quickly and 
completely , and prints, which have apparently wholly 
or partially resisted bleaching, are also very rapidly 
decolorized in this bath. Any spots and streaks also 
disappear. If, however, there is anything left, then the 
bleaching was not complete, and unreduced metallic 
silver remains in the film. After the sulphuric acid 
bath the prints should show the pure color of the paper 
base; the film side ought to be hardly different from 
the back in color. With prints that have been over¬ 
developed, a certain slight variation of color remains in 
the film, which, however, in no wise prejudices the 
inking-up. If there are still some spots, they are usually 
due to a slight precipitate lying on the surface of the 
film, which can be easily swabbed off. When this point 
of colorlessness is reached, and it usually requires only 
a few minutes, it is useless to leave the prints longer 
in the acid bath. They should be washed in repeated 
changes of water and immersed in the following fixing 
bath: 




REMOVAL OF THE SILVER IMAGE 35 


Hypo . 100 g 1 oz. 

Water . 1000 ccm 10 oz. 


The use of this fixing bath is essential and is based 
on the following considerations. During the bleaching 
process a secondary silver bromide image is formed in 
the gelatine film. This secondary image is not visible 
on white and yellowish bromide papers, because it is 
whitish-grey. If a bleached print, which has not been 
fixed, is exposed for a long time to daylight a distinctly 
visible blue-grey image is formed, which naturally is 
troublesome in the further operations. This secondary 
image of silver bromide is completely removed, however, 
by the fixing bath. 

The ordinary acid fixing baths can also be used with¬ 
out disadvantage for fixing. If the sulphuric acid is 
not sufficiently washed out, decomposition of the fixing 
bath may ensue, which will be made apparent by the 
unpleasant smell, and which is prejudicial to the action 
of the bath. Care should be taken that the prints do 
not stick to one another in the fixing bath and that 
they are thoroughly fixed out, as the secondary bro¬ 
mide image that is not removed will make its appear¬ 
ance in insufficiently fixed places and may cause darker 
patches. 

Washing then completes the preliminary preparation 
of the prints. 

For the sake of completeness it should be mentioned 
that the prints may be immersed in the bleaching solu¬ 
tion in the darkroom after the first development, and 
can be fixed after the solution of the silver image. This 
shortened process is, however, uncertain and can not 
be recommended. 




36 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The Intermediate Drying. — After the bleaching 
process outlined in the previous section the print must 
be dried without fail . While drying after the develop¬ 
ment and fixation of the bromide print is advisable but 
not absolutely necessary, the intermediate drying after 
bleaching is of the greatest importance. It is possible 
that the later operations may be successful in spite of 
neglect of this recommendation. As a rule, however, 
various mishaps occur when the intermediate drying is 
omitted. In many cases the ink can only be caused 
to adhere with difficulty, in others, not at all; sometimes 
the inking will proceed up to a certain point and then 
suddenly completely stop. Sometimes the image appears 
as a negative, that is to say, the ink is taken up by the 
high lights and rejected by the shadows. All these 
failures will be obviated by the intermediate drying at 
this stage. Whether this intermediate drying takes place 
rapidly or slowly is practically immaterial; naturally it 
ought not to be so prolonged that the gelatine suffers. 

The prints thus prepared can either be again soaked 
in water and immediately worked up, or kept and treated 
at any time. It is very convenient, especially for an 
amateur, to have a stock of such ready prepared and 
dry prints, because he is then in a position to work 
when he finds time and opportunity. The prints, pre¬ 
pared and dried as has been described, will keep in¬ 
definitely. With correct treatment there can be seen 
on the gelatine film of the dry print scarcely a trace of 
the bleached-out image; only in the very deepest 
shadows a slight coloration of the film, tending to grey, 
can sometimes be noticed. It is advisable, therefore, 
to mark the print on the paper side before bleaching, as 
otherwise it is subsequently difficult to distinguish this. 


REMOVAL OF THE SILVER IMAGE 37 

Before we go any further, the whole preliminary 
process is summarized once more: 

Development, 

Fixation, 

Washing, 

Bleaching, 

Short washing, 

Sulphuric acid bath, 

Short washing, 

Fixation, 

Washing, 

Intermediate drying. 


CHAPTER III 
THE INKING-UP 


HE Production of the Differential Swelling. 



JL —In the chapter on the bleaching we fully ex¬ 
plained the processes which take place in the gelatine 
film under the action of the bleaching solution, and that 
the most important result of the bleaching process, aside 
from the disappearance of the silver image, is the for¬ 
mation of different degrees of swelling corresponding to 
the primary image, which in their totality form the 
tanned image produced in place of the photochemical 
image by the bleaching. 

Far the success of the bromoil print, it is now of the 
utmost importance that the different capabilities of 
swelling, now latent in the gelatine film, should be satis¬ 
factorily utilized. It is obviously possible to produce 
this swelling in very different degrees. The colder the 
water used for the swelling, the smaller the difference 
between the lights and shadows, while the warmer the 
water the more this difference is accentuated. If, for 
example, a print prepared for the bromoil process is 
placed in cold water and allowed to swell for some 
minutes, the existing capacity for swelling will only be 
excited to a slight degree. The high lights of the in¬ 
visible image only take up a little water, and when dry 
are differentiated from the shadows under oblique visual 
examination by a very delicate gloss or not at all. If 


THE INKING-UP 


39 


this picture is now worked-up with greasy ink, a print 
is obtained with a short scale of gradation, and its tone 
values are usually less satisfactory than those of the 
original bromide print. If, on the other hand, the print 
is placed in very warm water, the swelling of the gela¬ 
tine reaches a maximum. The high lights are very 
much swollen, even the half-tones are somewhat raised, 
and the shadows, which do not absorb water, appear 
sunken. The result of the swelling in such warm water 
in this case is the formation of a very pronounced relief, 
that is not only visible, but is almost perceptible to the 
touch. If such a picture is inked up, a bromoil print 
is obtained, the contrasts of which are much stronger 
than those of the original bromide print. Between these 
two extremes there is obviously a whole series of inter¬ 
mediate stages, the suitable employment of which 
permits of the most varied gradations. 

As already mentioned, the capacity for swelling of 
the different makes of bromide papers is not the same 
in baths of the same temperature. This fact, however, 
argues neither for nor against the usefulness of the 
various bromide papers. It makes necessary, to be sure, 
a certain care in the use of a paper, the qualities of 
which are unknown. If one has to deal with such a 
paper, the prepared print should first be soaked in quite 
cold water; it should then be removed from the water, 
placed on a support, dried in the manner to be later 
described, and examined by oblique illumination as to 
whether the high lights show by a slight gloss that they 
have absorbed water. This will be the case if the image 
shows well swollen high lights; if they are not present, 
it will hardly be possible to find distinctly glossy places. 
In any case one may begin with the inking-up, prepared, 


40 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


as will be explained later, to increase the swelling if 
necessary during the inking-up by immersion in warm 
water. If on the other hand, the print, when taken 
from the cold water, distinctly shows places where dif¬ 
ferences of swelling are shown by a gloss or even a 
delicate relief in the film, the work may be proceeded 
with, without further trouble. 

Under any circumstance one should be careful at first 
in the production of the differential swelling. There 
should rather be no relief than too pronounced a one; 
for differences of swelling that are too small can be 
easily and satisfactorily increased during the work; on 
the other hand it is scarcely possible again to reduce 
too strong a relief. While learning, or when using an 
unfamiliar brand of paper, it is therefore advisable to 
allow the sheet to swell first in cold water and to care¬ 
fully begin the inking-up. Only if this is not satis¬ 
factory, should a warmer bath be used and the inking 
again tried. This method is, however, dealt with more 
fully in the section of Chapter III, entitled “ Different 
Methods of Working” (page 85). 

The Properties of the Relief and its Influence 
on the Character of the Picture. — In order that 
the following explanations may be understood, an im¬ 
portant property of the prepared and dried gelatine film 
must be mentioned. 

The film of the prepared print, in which the differences 
of swelling necessary for the formation of the bromoil 
print are latent, develops variations of relief when it 
is placed in water. Then the untanned high lights ab¬ 
sorb water, as already described, while the hardened 
shadows do not absorb it. The result of this process 
is the formation of those swellings, which, when they 


THE INKING-UP 


4i 


have attained a certain degree, are characterized by the 
formation of a relief. 

A definite degree of swelling corresponds to a definite 
temperature of water. This swelling disappears again 
if the film is dried. The gelatine has, however, acquired 
the property of again attaining the same degree of swell¬ 
ing when immersed in water at any time after drying, 
even if the temperature of this water be a good deal 
lower. A print, for example, on which a certain relief 
has been produced in water at 35 0 C. (95 0 F.) and 
which has given up this water again because of drying, 
again attains the same relief if immersed in ordinary 
tap water at io° C. (50° F.). If, however, this print 
after drying is immersed in water at 40° C. (104° F.), 
that is in hotter water than that first used, a still higher 
relief is obtained, and again in a similar manner, after 
drying, it will attain this higher relief when immersed 
in water at any lower temperature. 

The degree of swelling that is once attained can, there¬ 
fore, so far as the resistance of the gelatine film will 
permit, be increased, but it cannot be reduced, if the 
print as a whole is not subjected to a tanning, as with 
formaldehyde, a process that is not easily controllable. 
This peculiarity of gelatine makes it necessary to go to 
work carefully in the formation of the relief, so as not 
to carry the latter too far. If the work is begun on a 
too low relief this can be easily increased to the neces¬ 
sary height, as will be shown later, absolutely without 
any regard to any inking up that may have been done. 
On the other hand, if the formation of the relief has 
once been carried too far, as a rule the print can not 
be used, although reduction of the excessive swelling by 
a tanning agent may be attempted. 


42 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The property of the gelatine film, just described, 
offers a further convenience for the bromoil worker; for 
he can bring the bleached and dried print to the neces¬ 
sary degree of relief in water of suitable temperature, 
and, if he does not wish to work it up at once, it can 
be dried and laid aside until needed. In working-up 
such prints he is then, as a rule, relieved of the necessity 
of obtaining warm water. 

The question how far the swelling oj the film has to 
go or in other words what kind oj a relief should exist, 
if any, in order to obtain a harmoniously graduated 
bromoil print, is extremely difficult to answer. A few 
practical trials quickly give the ability to judge this 
correctly. If a well-modulated negative is used, one in 
which the differences of gradation between the high 
lights and the shadows are not too great, the swollen 
gelatine film after drying should show a very delicate 
but still noticeable relief; yet the high lights of the 
print should scarcely be raised above the shadows, and 
should not show too marked a gloss. 

The visibility of the relief is essentially determined 
by the character of the print. The more contrasty the 
bromide print was, the more easily are the different de¬ 
grees of swelling made apparent by the formation of 
a visible relief. A picture with sharp outlines and great 
contrasts, such as an architectural study, easily gives a 
distinct relief visible in all its details. Pictures with 
softer gradation, as, for instance, delicate portraits, be¬ 
have differently. One can not expect a striking relief 
in such prints. If this should be forced by warming 
the water, the bromoil print may easily attain an un¬ 
desirable harshness. With portraits, one should there¬ 
fore be satisfied when the outline of the profile against 


THE INKING-UP 


43 

the background, the contours of the eyes and the mouth, 
are raised to a barely visible extent from the gelatine 
base. At the same time very dense parts, like a white 
collar, a lady's light dress, lace, etc., may show a very 
distinct relief, even when the sharper lines of the face 
scarcely stand out in relief. Yet even in such cases 
the features can be recognized by the different gloss 
of the high lights and shadows under oblique observation. 
Naturally some attention must be paid here to the 
particular views of the operator. If strong contrasts 
are desired, greater differences of swelling must be used; 
if, on the other hand, softly modulated effects are sought, 
distinct relief must be avoided. In any case it is ad¬ 
visable not to attain this at once, but to get it as needed 
during the working-up by the use of water gradually 
increasing in temperature. 

It must be laid down as an axiom that the efficiency 
of a relief should never be judged by the eye alone, but 
should always be carefully tested out by inking-up with 
the brush. The degree of swelling is correctly estimated 
at the first attempt when, in inking-up, the picture 
appears quite clearly after a little hopping, and this 
may happen if the character of the image is right, even 
though no relief could be seen. 

The stronger the relief formed by warming the water , 
the more contrasty the bromoil print will be. Never¬ 
theless there is a certain limit which should not be over¬ 
stepped. If the print is warmed in the water bath so 
much that an excessive relief, which can almost be felt 
with the finger, is formed, in which deeply cut lines 
alternate with highly glazed places in relief, then the 
high lights are so saturated with water that under no 
circumstances will they take ink; even the softest inks 


44 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


will not adhere to them. Thus we obtain harsh high¬ 
lights without details, while the deeply sunken shadows 
literally fill up with ink and become sooty. If the 
formation of the relief has been driven so far, it is not 
advisable to treat the print with ink. 

The forcing of the relief to the extreme possible limit 
is only justified when working with a flat negative, in 
order to obtain as rich a gradation as possible from a 
flat print. Also, this should not be done all at once 
before the commencement of the inking-up, but ef¬ 
fected gradually during the work. Working in this 
way, extraordinarily successful results can be obtained 
and the contrast of the bromoil print can be made far 
more rich than that of the original bromide print. The 
limit lies only in the resisting power of the gelatine film 
and the flatter the bromide print was the sooner this 
is reached. 

The upper limit of temperature permissible for the 
water can hardly be defined; it depends entirely on 
the hardness of the gelatine film. It may happen that 
it is necessary gradually to go almost to the boiling 
point. Films that are hardened right through will with¬ 
stand even boiling water without forming a relief. 

If, in warming the print, the melting point of the 
gelatine is approached, those parts which are but slightly 
tanned, such as the high lights, and especially any un¬ 
exposed edges, begin to show a granular structure, and 
finally, when the heating is carried further, to melt. 

In the development of the relief great care should be 
taken that no part of the print remains dry , and, if the 
film is placed face down, air bubbles should be avoided. 
If the print is placed face up in the dish, no part of it 
should project above the water, as it will then not ab- 


THE IN KING-UP 


45 


sorb enough water; if the swelling has already taken 
place and a part of the film projects above the water 
(and this frequently happens, as the print, which at 
first lies on the bottom of the dish, after some time 
rises to the surface), the relief of the exposed parts 
goes down after some time, since the water evaporates 
from them into the air. Such insufficiently swollen parts, 
or those which have dried out, behave exactly as though 
they had been tanned more than the other parts of the 
surface. They have been able to absorb little or no 
water, or have lost the absorbed water by evaporation. 
They therefore take the ink, like the tanned shadows, 
far more readily than they would if they had retained 
the right amount of water, and far more ink adheres 
to them than should be the case and than adheres to 
the correctly swollen parts of the film. Thus patches 
of different form and size are formed at these places by 
the stronger adherence of the ink. Yet by renewed 
soaking of the print in the water these neglected places 
may be easily brought anew to the correct degree of 
swelling, and as far as concerns small spots caused by 
air bells, can be easily corrected. If larger patches of 
the film are insufficiently swollen, after the application 
of the ink they are usually much darker than the rest 
of the surface, and in such cases it is not always easy 
to obtain again the necessary evenness of the ink; it is 
then often necessary to ink up the whole print much 
more strongly than was originally planned, or to remove 
the whole film of ink. 

Besides the warm water bath there is also another 
means at our command to produce the differences of 
swelling. This is the use of ammonia. A. & L. Lumiere 
and Seyewetz, in a treatise published in 1913, on the 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


46 

resistance of gelatine to alkalis, found that cold solu¬ 
tions of ammonia did not attack gelatine but caused it 
to swell more. 

If a bleached print is immersed in an aqueous one per 
cent solution of ammonia, the film attains in a very 
short time the highest degree of swelling of which it is 
capable, without the gelatine in the high lights being 
softened or damaged. The estimation of the height of 
the relief, which is so important for the successful carry¬ 
ing out of the inking, is scarcely possible with the am¬ 
monia bath, as it is extremely difficult to gauge its action. 
Therefore, it should only be used in those cases in which 
the highest swelling is absolutely necessary, as for in¬ 
stance, when using papers which have been strongly 
hardened in the manufacture, or with prints with very 
poor contrasts. A further application is with the trans¬ 
fer process, in which on the one hand it permits of the 
use of very soft inks and on the other hand enables 
one to keep the gelatine very resistant. Full details 
on the transfer of bromoil prints will be found in a later / 
chapter. In very extreme cases, one may try to com¬ 
bine the action of the warm water and the ammonia 
bath, and use a warm ammonia bath. The i to 3 per 
cent solution of sodium carbonate recommended by E. 
Guttmann acts even more energetically than the am¬ 
monia solution. 

As is obvious from the foregoing remarks, it will be 
as well to work usually with water baths and leave the 
ammonia bath for a last resource, the more so as in the 
swelling of prints in this bath certain troublesome 
phenomena may appear, which do not occur when using 
the water baths. Sometimes the bleached image re¬ 
appears in the ammonia bath in a brown color; some- 


THE INKING-UP 


47 


times small white spots appear on the prints which will 
not take the ink and which, as can be determined by 
examining them by transmitted light, also exist in the 
substance of the paper; finally the gelatine film some¬ 
times swells all over, so that the ink is not taken up 
anywhere. Prints which are failures in consequence of 
the use of the ammonia bath, should be dried and can 
be again treated in a warm water bath. 

The Utensils. — For the application of the ink the 
following are required: 

Brushes. — A best quality oil-printing brush with very 
elastic hairs cut on the slant, the so-called stag’s-foot 
brush, should be used. To apply the ink, a brush should 
be used with a working surface of from ij to 2^ cm 
(| to ij in.) diameter; by diameter is meant the length 
of the longer axis of the elliptical surface produced by the 
slanting cut of the brush. For working-up very small 
surfaces or for placing accents of color, a brush of about 
\ cm in.) measurement should be used. In certain 
cases still smaller brushes may be useful. Such brushes 
are only used for working up details; they are only aids 
for special work. For the application of the ink gener¬ 
ally, only the larger brushes should be used. It is far 
more difficult to apply the ink evenly with small brushes 
than with the larger ones, so that their use may cause 
needless discouragement. 

The application of the ink is effected by placing the 
whole working surface of the brush charged with ink 
on the print, and then slowly lifting it up; this results 
in a deposition of ink corresponding to the working 
surface of the brush used. The smaller the brush the 
more often it must be applied, and therefore, the greater 
the probability of irregular inking, especially in those 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


48 

parts where the brush marks overlap. Also small 
brushes are handled less conveniently than larger ones 
and smear easily. The first thing to do in inking a 
bromoil is to obtain a good, even, thin film over the 
whole surface, to get a general impression of the whole 
effect. Only then is one in a position to judge how the 
tone values should be varied. The use of too small a 
brush unduly protracts this first operation and makes it 
difficult. 

The brushes should be elastic but not too soft. Too 
soft brushes smear, that is to say, they deposit the ink 
in a thicker layer at their edges than in the middle and 
produce elliptical rings of ink, which must always be 
evened out by hopping. 

In determining the size of the brush, the size of the 
bromoil print must be taken into account. Generally 
it is easier to work with brushes of from 1^ to 2J cm 
(| to in.) in diameter. For large sizes up to 30 x 
40 cm (12 x 16 in.) brushes of even 4 or 5 cm (i-J or 
2 in.) may be used. Such brushes are not cheap, but 
are practically indestructible, if they are properly cleaned 
every time after use. The brushes are sold in tubular 
paper cases; these latter should be preserved and the 
brushes, after cleaning, put back into them, so that they 
are covered and the hairs do not get ruffled. 

In order to preserve the brushes and keep them in 
good working order, they must be cleaned as soon as 
the work is finished, otherwise the ink left in them sets 
and makes the hairs brittle. 

Brushes of long swine bristles with cut ends may also 
be used; with these especially, clean prints are quickly 
attained. They are superior to hair brushes of poor 
grade. 


THE INKING-UP 


49 


The cleaning of the brushes is best effected as follows: 
Pour into a deep dish a readily volatile fat solvent, 
such as benzol, trichlorethylene, carbon tetrachloride 
(carbona), etc.; but not turpentine, for if this be used 
the brushes cannot be used sometimes for days. Dip 
the brush into the liquid and press out the solvent on 
the edges of the dish, and stroke the brush vigorously 
on a piece of lintless linen, which should be used for 
this purpose only. The solvent can be used, ignoring 
the opacity which it soon assumes, as long as it will 
dissolve the ink. Only the hairs of the brush should 
be dipped in the solvent, but not the binding, as in some 
cases the cement with which they are fastened may be 
attacked. 

The Inks. — Theoretically, any ink prepared with a 
fatty medium is suitable for bromoil printing. In order 
to give satisfactory results, the inks must satisfy two 
conditions: they must have the correct consistency and 
their medium must be soluble in benzol. As regards 
the consistency of the ink it should be noted that the 
prepared film in its swollen condition, that is when the 
lights are saturated with water, absolutely repels greasy 
inks only when this swelling attains the highest possible 
degree; a case which one seldom needs and which will 
usually have to be avoided. If this swelling is not 
carried to the limit, the high lights, in spite of the water 
they hold, will take up the greasy ink, yet usually only 
when the ink is very soft. The swollen high lights thus 
repel ink of thicker consistency , while they take the 
softer inks more easily in proportion as they become 
thinner. That the tanned shadows also take hard ink 
is natural, for they do not contain, or contain only 
to a very small extent, the water which repels the ink. 


50 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


From these considerations it follows that in many 
cases satisfactory results cannot be obtained by using 
ink of only one consistency. 

The hard or heavy ink should have about the con¬ 
sistency of table butter, and it should be possible to 
spread it into an even smooth film on a glass plate 
with light pressure. The soft or light ink should have 
about the thickness of honey and should spread under 
the knife without noticeable pressure. 

Collotype or copper-plate printing inks of various 
makes are frequently usable. As a rule, however, they 
must be tested as to their usefulness for our process; 
their consistency is frequently too hard, and sometimes 
they are not taken up by the film or cannot be dis¬ 
tributed well, even when they are considerable diluted 
with linseed oil varnish, in spite of an apparently correct 
consistency. 

The nature of the ink is not only influenced by the 
greasy substance used as' a medium, but also by the 
material of the coloring matter itself. This is why many 
inks, in spite of their apparent softness, work tenaciously 
or “ short,” while sometimes inks of hard consistency 
smear. 

If occasionally the dilution of an ink of too hard 
consistency appears necessary, this is best effected with 
linseed oil varnish, which, however, should not contain 
any driers. If the work has been begun with a stiff ink 
of a certain shade and it is desired to retain this tone 
to the end, it is advisable not to use a thin ink for 
dilution, but to thin down the stiff ink with varnish. 

Inks of too hard nature are not practicable. Such 
were necessary in the oil-printing process. In the bro- 
moil process, which is much less sensitive to the con- 


THE INKING-UP 


Si 


sistency of the ink, their use merely means a needless 
loss of time. An ink of correct consistency is easily 
taken up and produces quick drawing without smearing, 
while too hard inks are difficult to apply and soon refuse 
to take if they are not diluted. 

It is extremely simple and advantageous to prepare 
the inks oneself, as outlined by E. Guttmann in Chapter 
VIII, p. 177. The process recommended by him is to 
place the powdered colors on a matt glass plate and rub 
up with varnish by means of a muller or pestle. This 
procedure is considerably facilitated, if, according to 
my suggestion, a few drops of a readily volatile oil- 
solvent be added. The ink is thus immediately liquefied 
and can be quickly and perfectly rubbed up. The sol¬ 
vent evaporates during the grinding, which is much 
easier than in the old way, and the ink again acquires 
the desired character without suffering in any way. 

As a palette for the ink the best thing is a piece of 
waxed or parchment paper, fastened on a white support, 
such as a card. Such a palette has the advantage that 
after use it can be discarded without cleaning. More¬ 
over the color value of the ink can be fairly easily 
determined on it. If necessary old negatives, or other 
glass, may be used as a palette, and their use also makes 
cleaning unnecessary, which is an unpleasant and messy 
job. 

A small quantity of ink should be taken and dis¬ 
tributed as thinly and evenly as possible on the palette. 
A thick layer is not convenient, as then the brush takes 
up too much ink and too much is deposited at a time 
on the bromoil print. The film of ink should show as 
smooth and uniform a surface as possible; thicker ridges 
should be avoided, because the brush is thus more 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


52 

strongly inked in spots and therefore transfers the ink 
unevenly to the print. The distributed ink should be 
perfectly homogeneous and flexible. A thin layer of ink 
sets to a skin on its surface after a short time and then 
cannot be used. 

This setting also takes place in the body of the ink 
and becomes evident by the formation of a delicate skin 
or hard crumbly particles on the surface of the ink. 
These must always be removed; such hardened inks can 
only with difficulty be distributed on the palette. 
Finally it should be mentioned that hard inks may be 
slightly softened by warming. 

The Support. — A stout glass plate or drawing board 
should be used as a support, and inclined at an angle 
of about 30 degrees by propping up at the top; a damp 
and elastic pad must be placed on the glass or board. 
This pad is not for the purpose of keeping the print 
damp during the working-up , as is usually stated; on 
the one hand this is superfluous in view of the pos¬ 
sibility of repeated soaking, which is to be described 
later, and on the other hand it would not produce the 
desired result. It is erroneous to suppose that the water 
which passes from the damp support to the paper side 
can equalize the loss of water which the film suffers 
by evaporation from its surface. The pad should, 
therefore, only be so damp that the bromoil print ad¬ 
heres firmly to it, when under the brush. The pad 
should absorb and hold moisture; but this should not 
be imparted to the brush when it touches the pad in 
working-up the edges, otherwise water will be carried 
on to the print and cause spots. For this reason damp 
blotting paper or filter papers should be absolutely re¬ 
fected for the pad. If such papers are used for the 


THE INKING-UP 


53 


damp pad, the brush, which in working the edges must 
inevitably touch them, will not only take up water but 
also the paper fibers and, transferring them to the print, 
cause trouble. Moreover, sheets of paper in a damp 
state are difficult to lay smooth and are scarcely usable. 

The best material for the pad is the copying sheets 
used for copying books, which consist of two layers 
of linen with an intermediate film of rubber. Such 
sheets have the advantage that when damp they always 
remain flat and smooth. A damp piece of linen, doubled 
and smoothed out, is also simple and certain. The pad 
must lie absolutely flat, because any ridges become most 
unpleasantly visible in inking-up, particularly with thin 
papers, as the brush always slips from the highest parts 
of the ridges and causes inequalities in the print. 

Removal of the Water from the Surface of the 
Print. — After the prepared print is removed from the 
water and laid on the pad, the water adherent to its 
surface must be removed. This is best effected in the 
following way: Take a large, absorbent, lintless cloth, 
spread it smoothly over the print, and press it gently 
with the flat of the hand. By repeating this, the water 
is easily removed without endangering the film; whether 
the drying is complete can be judged by examining it 
obliquely . The freedom of the cloth, used for drying 
the print, from fluff and lint is of great importance . 
If the cloth gives up fibers to the surface of the print, 
these cannot be seen at first. In inking-up, innumerable 
minute dark spots and lines appear on the film, as the 
deposited fibers take the ink very strongly and thus 
suddenly become visible. It is frequently erroneously 
assumed that such troublesome defects come from the 
brush. This is seldom the case; on close examination 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


54 

these fibers will be seen to be particles of the textile 
material. When possible, linen that has been frequently 
washed should be used for the drying. 

When the water is to be removed from a print that 
has already been inked and again soaked, care should 
be taken that the cloth is freed from any folds by damp¬ 
ing and subsequent drying, for such folds can, when 
pressed on the print, damage the film of ink. Although 
this is not of material importance, as such faults can 
be easily evened out by hopping, yet these small pre¬ 
cautions avoid unnecessary trouble. Sidewise or wiping 
movements of the cloth should be carefully avoided, 
especially if the print has already been inked, because 
the ink is unnecessarily smeared by the wiping. After 
removal of the cloth one should make sure by examining 
the print obliquely that the water has been completely 
removed from the surface. 

It is advisable to keep several cloths ready for drying 
off the film, for this will have to be done fairly fre¬ 
quently during the work. Care should be taken to re¬ 
move most carefully every trace of water; water which 
is picked up by the brush causes spots , for the drops of 
water in the brush keep the ink away from the points 
of contact. In such cases it will be seen that white 
spots make their appearance in different parts of the 
print, continuously shifting their position during the 
work. By perfect drying off, these phenomena, which 
are in any case not necessarily important as regards the 
final result, can be avoided. In drying off a print al¬ 
ready inked-up, the cloth will as a rule remove some ink 
from the surface; such cloths should not be used again 
until they have been washed, because they may transfer 
ink to a place where it is not wanted. 


THE INKING-UP 


55 

The Brush Work. — The prepared print, lying flat 
on the pad, and with its surface freed from adherent 
water, should now be inked up. 

Before beginning the application of the ink a little 
stiff ink, at least as large as the working surface of the 
brush, should be placed in a corner of the palette. This 
should be spread out flat, thin and free from ridges; 
then the knife should be wiped and a little soft ink 
spread in another place. 

The brush should now be pressed down on the hard 
ink already distributed on the glass plate, and the ink 
dabbed very carefully from the brush on a clean place 
of the palette. One should never go with the brush 
direct from the ink itself to the print , as this will form 
a spot which it is difficult to work out. It is of the 
greatest importance always to work with a brush that 
has been well dabbed out and in which the ink is evenly 
distributed. If the brush has not been sufficiently 
dabbed out it leaves on the print a quantity of small, 
much darker and usually linear particles of ink, which 
cannot be distributed or are only removable with diffi¬ 
culty. Such spots must then as a rule be removed 
by the method described on page 72. 

The whole brush technique is based on the following 
principle: if the brush charged with ink is placed on 
the print and allowed to remain there for a moment, 
and then slowly lifted up, the ink remains on the image. 
If it is set down sharply and quickly lifted (the so-called 
“ hopping ”), it removes ink. In the first inking-up of a 
print, the swelling of which has been correctly carried 
out, the application of the ink may be effected by a gentle 
dabbing. A very thin film of ink is thus produced and 
almost simultaneously correctly distributed. 


56 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The brush should always be held by the extreme end 
between two fingers, never by the middle or near the 
hairs. The more lightly and more delicately the brush 
is managed the better it works. 

It is best to begin the work at some characteristic 
place of the picture, which is well known to the worker; 
the ink should first be spread as delicately and evenly 
as possible on a small spot, avoiding, as far as possible, 
going over the same place twice with fresh ink. When 
the place selected has been covered with a light film 
of ink, the surface should be hopped over with light 
movements, when, with correct preparation of the print, 
the outlines will soon appear. A bromoil print correctly 
prepared, and with swelling suitable to the ink used, is 
easily recognizable by the fact that the image appears 
delicately but distinctly under the very first strokes of 
the brush. If this does not happen even after some 
time, either the degree of swelling of the print is too 
low or there is some fault in the preparation of the 
print, such as, for instance, unsuitable paper, a poor 
bromide print, errors in bleaching, etc. The longer the 
hopping continues, the more distinct the details should 
become. Then the application of the ink should be 
continued in places adjacent to those already worked up, 
until finally the whole surface of the print has been 
evenly gone over with ink and the image is visible in 
all its details, although still very thin and delicate. It 
is advisable to use a rough print from the negative as 
a guide. 

Beginners usually make the mistake of jumping from 
one spot to another without filling up the intervening 
parts. This makes the work more difficult. Inking up 
should be carried out continuously by passing from those 


THE INKING-UP 


57 


places already worked on to those not inked up. If it 
is noticed that the places which were first inked up 
appear too pale compared to their surroundings, since 
they have still too little ink, they should be inked up 
more strongly. Too dark spots should be evened out 
with the brush by removing the excess of ink and de¬ 
positing it on the less inked parts. The amount of 
ink used on the print is very small; that which is first 
taken up by the brush lasts for a long time. It is not 
necessary to have frequent recourse to the ink spread 
on the palette by the knife, but is much better to take 
up, as long as possible, fresh ink from the spot on the 
palette on which the brush was dabbed. 

On the other hand, however, every application of the 
brush to the print should actually deposit some ink on 
the print . If those parts touched by the brush do not 
increase in intensity, it must be determined whether 
the dark places on the palette from which ink is supposed 
to be taken, are actually giving up ink; for if the film 
of ink remaining on the palette is too thin, fresh ink 
must be deposited and distributed on it by the brush. 

Care should be taken not to overload the brush with 
ink, for then the hairs stick together, distribute the ink 
badly on the print and, moreover, frequently leave large 
coherent particles of ink on the film, thus causing spots. 
As the brush is cut on the slant, it may happen that in 
dabbing out the brush on the palette and in the applica¬ 
tion of the ink to the print, the front and longer part 
of the brush is used more strongly. Then the ink col¬ 
lects at the back edge of the brush and causes spots 
when the brush is used more vigorously. 

In many cases it is possible to complete the print 
with the hard ink alone. If it is noticed that the hard 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


58 

ink does not take well on the print and is removed again 
in lifting the brush, its consistency is too stiff for the 
work. One should not then continue to use it, but 
should soften the ink in the following manner: First 
place the brush in the hard ink and dab it out well in 
another place on the palette. Now dip the ends of the 
brush hairs carefully and very lightly into the soft ink 
and dab out the very small quantity of the soft ink 
taken up by the brush on the same spot, on which the 
hard ink has been previously distributed. There is thus 
formed on the palette as well as in the brush a mixture 
of the two inks. Now try carefully whether the now 
softened ink adheres well to the print, by placing the 
brush lightly on a light place of the print. If it leaves 
behind a light trace of ink without any trouble, the 
consistency is correct; but if this does not happen, the 
ink must be diluted again in the same way with the 
soft ink. If on the other hand the brush leaves behind 
a strong trace of ink from a light touch, the ink is too 
soft and requires the addition of some hard ink. It is 
not advisable to mix the soft and hard inks on the palette 
with the knife, as it is very difficult to strike the right 
consistency in this way. 

This applies to all mixtures and dilutions of the ink 
which may be necessary in the course of the work, as 
in strengthening a colored ink with black, or in the 
preparation of any desired tint by admixture of dif¬ 
ferent inks, and finally in softening inks with varnish. 
In all these cases mixing of the inks on the palette 
with the knife puts too much ink into use; also, as long 
as the ink is on the palette, one cannot estimate with 
the necessary exactitude either the tint or the con¬ 
sistency. The correct procedure is rather first to go 


THE INKING-UP 


59 

with the brush to the first color and distribute this on 
a clean place, then set the same brush in the second 
color and make the mixture on the palette by dabbing. 
Then the mixture thus obtained should be tested as 
to its shade of consistency by gentle application to the 
print, and more of one or the other ink added in the 
same way with the brush. It should be noted that 
inks of a soft consistency go a very long way; the whole 
surface of the brush should never be dipped into such 
inks, but only the point of the brush. Softening of the 
inks with varnish should be effected in the same way. 

When the first inking up is finished, the addition of 
ink of the same consistency is continued until the print 
is completed or will no longer take ink, which, as has 
already been pointed out, is known by the fact that the 
newly applied ink no longer adheres, but that the brush 
removes it from the print. Then one proceeds to a 
further dilution of the ink by taking more soft ink 
with the brush and adding it to that already mixed, 
and continues the work. The use of the unmixed soft 
ink is not even necessary in many cases. If, however, 
it proves to be necessary, it should be used, but with 
care, for a brush stroke which puts too much soft ink 
on any part of the print, especially in the shadows, 
causes a patch. The beginner will work most easily and 
successfully if he always keeps the applications of ink 
as delicate as possible and obtains depth only by a re¬ 
peated and even coating of ink , fully distributed every 
time. If a place should still turn out to be too dark, 
one can try removing the excess of ink, if it be a hard 
one, with a clean brush. If a dark patch is formed 
by too vigorous application of a mixed or even a soft 
ink, another brush should be dipped into the hard ink, 


6o 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


dabbed out, and the spot removed with this brush. 
Moreover, such places can as a rule be easily rectified 
after the second soaking of the print, which will be 
described presently. If the fault cannot be removed in 
this way, the ink must be partially or entirely removed, 
according to the instructions in Chapter III, page 73, 
and the work begun anew. This should be done with¬ 
out hesitation by the learner if the application of the 
ink does not succeed as he desires; the prepared print 
can be used for practice like a school slate by washing 
it off after each attempt with a solvent of the greasy 
medium. 

For the application and the hopping off of the ink 
for large areas of the print one should always use the 
whole working surface of the brush. Smaller surfaces 
or outlines should be worked up with the front edge 
of the slantingly-cut brush; in laying on the ink one 
should never continue with the point, because this bends 
and gives unpleasantly sharply defined ink edges. In 
order to cover a place with ink very thoroughly, one 
should hold the brush firmly, give it a slight twist and 
then raise it up straight and slowly . If it is desired to 
coat a whole print evenly with ink, it should be applied 
in stripes over the whole print, the brush being pushed 
forward and not necessarily completely lifted up from 
the surface. The brush is pressed down firmly, the 
pressure relaxed a little, the brush moved forward half 
its width, then pressed again, and so on. In this way 
with a little experience there may be produced perfectly 
even ink stripes which bring out the outlines of the image 
and which are made close together until the whole print 
has been gone over, when one begins with the hopping. 
With papers with marked structure these stripes are 


THE INKING-UP 


61 


best made in the direction of the structure and not at 
right angles. Especial care should always be taken that 
the shadows of the print, which take the ink most easily, 
are not too strongly inked up, and one should try by 
light hopping to bring out all the desired details at the 
very first application of the ink. When the shadows 
have once taken too much ink, it is not easy to clear 
them up by brush work alone. The inking up of large 
deep shadows must always, therefore, be very carefully 
done. Such parts of the picture are the most strongly 
tanned and therefore take the ink very readily and hold 
it very tenaciously. They should therefore never be 
touched with a brush freshly charged with ink, but 
one should work on the heavier shadows only when 
the brush has given up the greater part of its ink to 
the less sensitive parts of the image. Even then it 
always contains enough ink for the darker parts of the 
print. The first application of ink in the shadows, 
especially, ought never to be heavy and cannot be kept 
too delicate. When the desired details in the shadows 
appear to be well defined, they should then be strength¬ 
ened. But even this should not be effected by a single 
thick coating of ink, but by successive additions of thin 
ink films and hopping after each. 

Especial emphasis must be laid on the statement that 
all details, which it is desired to have in the finished 
print, must be brought out by the first application of 
the mk. If parts of the image are strongly inked up 
before the desired details have appeared, it is difficult 
to develop these later. On the other hand, detail, 
which has been brought out in the first inking, cannot 
be suppressed by any further skilful application of ink, 
but only strengthened. 


62 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


These phenomena can on the other hand be success¬ 
fully used to prevent the appearance of undesirable de¬ 
tails in the picture. If for artistic reasons one desires 
to suppress detail and work flatly, the parts in question 
should be inked up from the start more strongly and 
evenly, and the hopping be either entirely omitted or 
stopped before the details which are to be omitted are 
brought out. 

For beginners especially, it is useful in applying the 
ink, as well as in hopping, to lift the brush after every 
few strokes and examine the results obtained, so as to 
decide on further procedure. 

One should accustom oneself to examine the print 
from time to time at a certain distance, while it is being 
worked on; for the correct impression as to whether 
the tonal values are correctly chosen, can be gained 
only at a greater distance; it is then seen more easily 
and clearly whether or not individual parts of the print 
carry too much or too little ink. 

Particular parts of the print, which one wishes to have 
more contrasty, should be gone over after the hopping 
with a wiping motion of the brush; the ink is thus re¬ 
moved from the raised parts of the relief. If- one goes 
too far in this, the inking can be done over again in the 
usual way. 

If it is desired to free a brush from the soft ink, it 
should be dipped into hard ink specially spread on the 
palette for this purpose, and dabbed out well on a 
clean place, and this operation repeated two or three 
times, using each time another part of the palette. At 
the end of this manipulation the brush will practically 
no longer contain anything but hard ink. 

When one has once learnt the initial steps of brush 


THE INKING-UP 


63 

technique, in the course of time one fails to notice the 
difference between the laying on and the hopping off 
of the ink. The hand in time acquires an instinctive 
handling of the brush, which takes care at once of both 
the application and the distribution of the ink; if the 
proper relation between the consistency of the ink and 
the degree of swelling of the gelatine has been hit upon, 
a simplified handling of the brush comes of itself, be¬ 
cause then the application of the ink is especially easy. 

When, with papers of rough surface, the grain of the 
paper remains white in the shadows, in spite of hopping, 
such places should be treated by going over them with 
the inked brush with light pressure with a rotary motion . 

Practice teaches that there is always a definite con¬ 
sistency of ink which corresponds to a definite degree 
of swelling and with this the print may be executed 
from start to finish. If the operator has learnt by 
experience what ink consistency corresponds to the exist¬ 
ing swelling of the film, he will prepare his ink of the 
suitable consistency, and is then in a position to carry 
out the work uninterruptedly without any new mixing 
of the ink. 

It is a little difficult for the tyro to answer the ques¬ 
tion as to when the application of the ink should be 
stopped, that is to say, when the print may be looked 
upon as finished. There is frequently a temptation to 
consider the print finished when it is very delicate yet 
completely visible in all its details. The beginner often 
lacks the courage to apply more ink at this stage; he 
usually believes also that the print will take no more 
ink, because, as has been mentioned above, the part of 
the palette from which he has hitherto taken the ink, 
gives up no more. Such prints, which recall sketchy 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


64 

pencil drawings, deceive one during the work, but only 
satisfy later if this particular technique is suited to the 
character of the picture, which is certainly not always 
the case. One must therefore carefully consider during 
the work whether one should actually stop. 

The second danger lies in the opposite direction, and 
is due to the fact that, led on by the constantly in¬ 
creasing vigor of the image, one cannot rightly decide 
when to stop. The danger here is that one is tempted 
by the vigor of some part of the picture to make the 
other parts also as strong in color, until by such con¬ 
tinued action the print is immersed in the deepest 
gloom, which becomes still more gloomy after defatting 
the finished print. Such excess must be avoided as a 
rule. Experience and taste soon teach one to hit the 
happy mean. 

The first, delicate and general application of ink, 
which may be considered as a guide print, is in many 
cases somewhat wearisome, especially when the picture 
has large areas of rich, deep shadows. With correct 
preliminary treatment of the print there are no real 
difficulties in the preparation of such. a guide print. 
Yet the work, especially with large sizes, is really time- 
consuming and also offers, when considered from the 
artistic standpoint, but little interest, since the actual 
creative work of the operator only begins after the guide 
print is finished; only then is he in a position to ac¬ 
tually give expression to his artistic feelings by suitable 
inking of the different parts. 

Since, therefore, the work in the preparation of the 
guide print is actually quite mechanical, it is natural 
to make use of any means which enables one to facilitate 
and hasten this work. 


THE INKING-UP 


65 

For this there may be used, but only by the expert 
worker, a method based on the following considerations: 

If an ink of suitable consistency is dissolved in a 
suitable solvent, such as benzol, carbon tetrachloride, 
trichlorethylene, etc., the pigment is very evenly dis¬ 
seminated in this solvent. If the latter again evapo¬ 
rates, the ink deposits in an even coating, unchanged in 
its nature. 

It is therefore, possible, in the first application of the 
ink, to use such a solvent on the print and by its aid 
the wearisome mechanical work of the first inking may 
be rapidly and easily carried out. 

In practice the method of procedure is as follows: 
there is first produced, on the print which is to be worked 
up, a relief which is vigorous enough to sufficiently 
develop all the detail in the shadows. An ink which 
is fairly stiff for this degree of swelling is chosen; the 
brush is first dipped in the solvent and then into the 
ink, which has been thinly spread on the palette. 
After a few dabbings on the palette the ink solution with 
which the brush is charged is spread on the print with a 
hopping motion and distributed with the same brush 
as evenly as possible. If the distribution becomes dif¬ 
ficult in consequence of evaporation of the solvent, the 
brush should be again dipped in the solvent, and then 
the distribution can be easily completed. The film of 
ink thus obtained should be fairly thin, but must not 
be quite even. 

After the complete evaporation of the solvent, the ink 
is worked up with a clean brush, with which the guide 
print can be finished without trouble and in the briefest 
time. 

There are also other variations of this method of 


66 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


the application of dissolved inks. For instance, one 
may first apply some ink with the brush to the print 
and then distribute it with a second brush dipped in the 
solvent; one may also prepare a solution of the ink in 
a dish and paint it on the picture, or bathe the whole 
print in a solution of the ink. All these variants, es¬ 
pecially the last two, have, however, certain disadvan¬ 
tages, so that the procedure first outlined is to be 
preferred. 

After the guide print is prepared in this way, the 
further application of the ink is carried out in the 
normal manner. 

The solvent is most conveniently chosen so that it is 
not too Volatile, as for instance heavy benzol. But it 
ought not to contain any oil. When placed on the sur¬ 
face of the hand, it should evaporate fairly slowly, but 
without leaving any trace of grease. 

Certain failures, which sometimes appear in this 
process, must be mentioned. If the film of ink is too 
thin, it can be repeated without further trouble in the 
same way, with rather more mk. If, on the other hand, 
too much ink is applied, a complete image is immediately 
formed without any possibility of the shadows being 
worked up. In this case the ink must be again removed 
by the solvent. If individual parts of the picture are 
too dark, from too much ink, it is sufficient to go over 
these parts with a brush dipped in the solvent, in order 
to clear them up. 

If, after evaporation of the solvent, great irregularities 
in the distribution of the ink are seen, as for instance, 
spots and streaks which cannot be easily worked out, 
the print should again be placed in water; after drying 
off, the evening-up may be carried out without difficulty. 


THE INKING-UP 


67 

If in hopping with the second clean brush the image 
does not appear at once without trouble, either the relief 
was too low, or the ink too soft, or the solvent contained 
oil. 

The ink can obviously be placed on the bromoil print 
not only with the brush but with any other suitable ink 
carrier, such as rollers . Yef by this the process is ren¬ 
dered more mechanical and deprived of all those great 
advantages, which distinguish it from all other printing 
methods. Especially, the possibility of local treatment 
is mostly lost; the unlimited command of the tonal 
values and the structure of the ink can only be guaran¬ 
teed by the use of the brush. The only offset to this 
loss is a gain in speed. Agility, however, is not sought 
after in artistic labors. If one wants to prepare a lot 
of prints quickly, it is better to use the bromide process, 
which is especially suitable for such a task, and thus 
save the trouble of the bleaching and the other processes 
necessary in making bromoil prints. 

Resoaking of the Print During the Working-up. 
— Resoaking the print during the inking up, without 
regard to the existent film of ink, is one of the most im¬ 
portant aids in the bromoil process. 

This procedure is based on the following considera¬ 
tions: It has already been pointed out that the prepared 
gelatine film possesses the property of again assuming 
after drying the same degree of relief which was im¬ 
parted to it by the warm water bath. When a swollen 
print is taken out of the water and placed on the pad 
for working up, evaporation immediately begins at the 
surface of the film; the gelatine, therefore, continuously 
gives up water to the surrounding air during the work, 
and more quickly in proportion as the air is drier and 


68 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


warmer. As has already been mentioned, the damp pad 
does not alter this, since the supply of water from the 
pad through the paper is not sufficient to restore the 
water content of the film. Therefore, while one inks up 
one part of the print, all other parts gradually lose their 
water; and since it is this water which renders the 
gelatine, after its tanning, capable of repelling or taking 
the greasy ink, the work gradually becomes more and 
more difficult. The gelatine film, which feels smooth 
when the film is removed from the water, especially in 
the high lights and any exposed margins, becomes gradu¬ 
ally leathery. It may still take ink, but the distribution 
of this, and especially the development of the drawing 
and the details, become more and more difficult. 

//, however, the print, which is partly or entirely inked 
up, is again placed in water and this time in cold water, 
the gelatine film very rapidly absorbs this and again 
attains the same degree of relief that it had at first. 
Sometimes it appears as though a marked clearing up 
of the image takes place in the water; the high lights 
become cleaner, and many details appear in the shadows 
which were not visible during the working-up. On the 
other hand, with some inks the picture appears to be¬ 
come weaker under the water. This, however, is only 
an illusion and is of no importance, as in drying, or in 
again going over the picture with the brush, the image 
again attains the previous depth and color and still 
greater clearness. 

Here also, one must take care that the print is com¬ 
pletely immersed and that no air bells adhere to the film, 
since those places to which the water does not have 
access do not reswell, and on further work may give 
rise to spots. In removing the print from the water 


THE IN KING-UP 


69 

the inked-up surface should not be touched with the 
fingers, or finger prints will remain in the ink. The 
print should therefore be taken hold of by the edges. 

While the print is soaking in the water, the bringing 
out of the details, especially in the shadows, may be 
facilitated by stroking those parts with the tip of the 
finger or a swab of absorbent cotton. In the same way 
dirt which has collected on the surface during the work 
may be removed. In the latter case one may also use 
more vigorous friction, even though the ink film is thus 
removed, since the removal of the troublesome particles 
is more important than saving the thin film of ink, 
which can be easily renewed. 

The print is then removed from the water, placed 
on the pad, and dried as previously by spreading over 
and pressing down a lintless cloth, although because of 
the film of ink any wiping action should be avoided. 
Then when the brush work is resumed, it can be com¬ 
pleted in an extraordinarily easy manner. 

It should be specially noted that the print must be 
worked up after this second soaking with the same brush 
as before, which need not be recharged with ink. Only 
after the print has been hopped in this way, should fresh 
ink be applied. 

During the work, the bromoil print, as a rule, will 
scarcely retain the necessary degree of dampness longer 
than a quarter of an hour, and not this long in dry and 
warm weather. 

The resoaking of the print should be undertaken 
without hesitation as often as any difficulty in the dis¬ 
tribution of the ink is met with; for this saves a great 
part of the brush work, and almost automatically brings 
out contrasts and details. Especially while learning the 


70 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


process and later with more difficult prints, the work 
is most conveniently divided as follows: first application 
of the ink and distribution by hopping, as long as it is 
easy; resoaking the print; drying off and hopping anew 
with the brush not freshly charged with ink; second 
application of the ink and hopping of the ink now ap¬ 
plied; another soaking, and so on. The operation may 
be repeated as often as desired without the film taking 
any harm. 

Because of the possibility of always bringing the print 
to the correct degree of relief during the brush work 
by means of resoaking, there is absolutely no limit to 
the size of the bromoil print. One can simply finish a 
part of a print of any desired size and then, after an¬ 
other soaking, go on to the next part and so on until 
the whole print is inked. 

If the relief of the film corresponds to the desires 
of the operator, the bromoil print may be finished com¬ 
pletely in this way. If it is seen that the relief is not 
sufficient to give the desired modeling and contrast, the 
resoaking may be effected with warmer water than was 
used at first. Yet, until the worker has completely 
mastered the process, this should be done carefully and 
the temperature of the water gradually raised by adding 
hot water, in steps of not more than five degrees, until 
the requisite relief is attained. The use of a ther¬ 
mometer is here absolutely essential, for the estimation 
of the temperature of the water by the hand is quite 
unreliable and may lead to the greatest errors. This 
applies to all water baths used in the bromoil process. 
At this point it should be noted that a print, which on 
account of its characteristics has to be placed at the 
beginning in very hot water to attain the necessary re- 


THE INKING-UP 


7 * 

lief, is usually covered with very tiny air bells, which 
can easily be overlooked; they must be removed by 
wiping under water so as to avoid troublesome spots. 

If the relief of the whole print is satisfactory, but, 
because of the character of the negative, a few places 
in the deep shadows do not show the necessary details, 
the desired shadow detail might possibly be attained 
by increasing the whole relief, yet at the same time the 
relief in the rest of the image would be carried too far. 
In such cases, the places which should be relatively 
more swollen can be separately more highly swollen 
while the rest of the surface of the print retains the 
original relief, by pressing on them a cloth soaked in 
warm water or a suitably formed swab of absorbent 
cotton. A still stronger effect is obtained when such 
places are painted with a water-color brush charged with 
a one per cent solution of ammonia, either on the film 
or, after previously marking the outlines, on the back. 

When the relief of the gelatine has been increased 
by soaking in water which is warmer than that used for 
the first bath, certain precautions must be observed in 
removing it from the water. It frequently happens, 
when using certain inks, that the water which runs from 
the film causes streaks and spots, and that evening these 
out is at least troublesome and frequently very difficult. 
This action, which does not occur when resoaking in a 
bath of the same or a lower temperature, is explained 
by the fact that the greasy medium of the ink is liquefied 
by the high temperature of the water, and runs down 
irregularly or mixes with the water and is carried off 
by it. There are thus formed on the film of ink marks 
which show the form of the streams of water which 
have run off. Such troubles may be avoided by bring- 


72 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


ing the support close to the dish in which the print is 
soaked, lifting the print out of the water as far as pos¬ 
sible in a horizontal position and placing it in the same 
position on the support, and immediately spreading the 
previously dried cloth over it and carefully drying. By 
observing this precaution, the running off of the water 
from the film, which is the cause of this difficulty, is 
prevented. Any traces left by the cloth, used for dry¬ 
ing off, can be easily evened out again by the brush. 

By making use of this soaking of the print during the 
work, the bromoil printer is absolutely unlimited in the 
time used for his work and is not driven by any neces¬ 
sity for haste. He can continue his work in peace and 
without hurry, and devote himself to any particular part 
of his picture at will, without being afraid that other 
parts will meanwhile lose their capacity for being 
worked up. 

The Removal of the Ink from the Surface.— 
If, in the application of the ink, a fault occurs, which 
for any reason cannot be corrected with the brush, or 
if one sees in the course of the work that the ink film 
is not satisfactory in tonal values or shading, the print 
would have to be discarded, if it were not possible to 
remove the ink without damage to the film. This is 
feasible, however, without any special difficulty; one 
need not, therefore, throw away such a print, but after 
removal of the ink can again ink it up, but this time 
with avoidance of the previous fault. 

If there are only small faulty places , the ink may be 
removed from the print as it lies on the pad, as follows: 

Cut a small piece of transparent, waxed paper, or, 
lacking this, of thin smooth white paper of approxi¬ 
mately the shape of the over-inked spot, but slightly 


THE INKING-UP 


73 

larger, and place it on the faulty spot, turning up a 
little comer so as to be able to lift the paper again. 
Then rub with the finger tip carefully and pull off. The 
ink is thus removed from the bromoil print and trans¬ 
ferred to the paper. If the removal is not complete, 
the operation is repeated with a second piece of waxed 
paper. If very small places, as, for instance, the eyes 
of a portrait, have to be dealt with, the rubbing should 
be done with a round stick, such as a penholder. 

By inking again, the part that has been thus removed 
may be replaced without any trace of a correction. 

If the whole film of ink is to be removed from a bro¬ 
moil print, a soft dry cloth or better still a swab of 
absorbent cotton should be soaked in benzol or other 
solvent, and the picture washed with it. The medium 
of the ink is dissolved by the benzol and the ink taken 
up by the wiping cloth. 

Every stroke must be made with a clean portion of 
the swab, which must frequently be soaked again with 
benzol, otherwise the ink dissolved by the benzol and 
taken up by the swab will be again put down on the 
paper. If, after washing with benzol some traces of 
ink still remain on the film, the print should be 
immersed in water, but only after the benzol has com - 
pletely evaporated not only from the film but also from 
the fibers of the paper, and it should then be gently 
wiped with the finger. Even if the film still shows a 
slight tint after this, the working-up may be begun again 
successfully, since the traces of the previous inking dis¬ 
appear under the new application of ink. 

This complete removal of the ink with benzol may 
also be repeatedly effected. Beginners can, therefore, 
use any prepared print several times for experiments. 


74 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


But experts should not think of washing an unsatisfac¬ 
tory print with benzol. Those who possess a transfer 
machine can remove the film of ink mechanically in the 
simplest way by transfer. 

If it is desired to remove the ink from very small 
portions of the print , this is most easily effected by re¬ 
peated use of art-gum y which should be sharpened to 
a point. After every application of the art-gum, a fresh 
surface of the gum must be used, so that the ink is not 
again transferred to the picture. It should be noted, 
however, that repeated use of the gum on the same spot 
may cause blisters. 

Failures. — To assist the beginner, some possible 
failures will be here described. 

It may happen that during the inking the print be¬ 
comes covered with fibers and small hairs of the most 
different shapes. This phenomenon may sometimes be¬ 
come so troublesome that a successful print appears 
problematical. It is frequently incorrectly assumed that 
these impurities are caused entirely by the brush. Hairs 
that have fallen from the brush are always recognizable 
as such, for they are straight, relatively thick, lie en¬ 
tirely on the surface of the film, and can be easily 
removed. When there is an excessive appearance of 
fibers , they are due to the use of an unsuitable cloth for 
drying. The fibers are of the most different shapes, 
from dots to recurved and entangled lines. 

From the fact that they always appear most strongly 
and frequently during the inking up, it is frequently 
erroneously assumed that they are caused by the brush 
used for the inking, or that dust is deposited from the 
air; this is not so. A dirty brush may be to blame; 
mostly, however, they are fibers of very different shapes, 


THE INKING-UP 


75 

which are brought on to the damp and somewhat tacky 
gelatine film by the pressure of an unsuitable cloth, 
which is not free from lint, and they are held fast by 
the gelatine and tom from the cloth as this is lifted. 
At first these thin and almost transparent fibers are not 
visible. But they take the ink, and thus it happens 
that they seem to appear in ever increasing numbers 
during the inking. If individual fibers (which may 
come from an otherwise suitable cloth), or brush hairs 
that have fallen out, have to be removed, this is readily 
effected by art-gum, worked to a point with the fingers. 
With such a point long fibers can be very easily lifted 
from the film, while the tiny cloth fibers cling very 
firmly to the film. A small white spot, where the gum 
point has touched, remains, as this removed the ink also 
from the gelatine. Such points can be completely closed 
up by repeatedly going over them with the brush. 

Single hairs or fibers lying on the surface may be 
allowed to remain, when they occur in places where for 
any reason one must not destroy the ink film; they can 
be very easily removed from the film with a sharp in¬ 
strument in the after treatment of the finished print; 
usually they leave scarcely any mark. 

If, on the other hand, the fibers have appeared in 
large numbers, the print should be immersed in water 
and one should try to remove them by gentle friction 
with the tip of the finger, which is generally successful, 
even if the film of ink is also removed at the same time. 
If, however, the fibers adhere so firmly that they cannot 
be removed in this way, which is particularly likely to 
happen in the shadows, the whole coating of ink must 
be removed in the manner outlined in the previous 
section, page 73. 


76 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The only safeguard against the appearance of this 
difficulty is the use of a material as free from lint as 
possible for drying the film. 

It may happen that the print takes the first hard ink 
instantly and very readily, but that even with long 
hopping clearness of the details is not obtained; the 
picture indeed shows up well, but remains muddy, as 
even the high lights retain the ink and become darker 
with further application of the ink. Then, as a rule, 
the requisite relief has not yet been attained, and the 
print must be placed in warmer water. If all the in¬ 
structions for the development of the bromide print, the 
bleaching and the swelling have been adhered to, and 
success is still wanting, then the fault lies in the paper, 
which was hardened too much in manufacture. The 
bromoil process is based on the fact that the shadows 
are tanned more than the high lights, and that then the 
tanned places take up more ink than the untanned. 
If the whole film was completely hardened from the start, 
there cannot be more tanning added by the bleaching, 
and the ink will take everywhere, in the lights and in 
the shadows. 

If the high lights of the picture completely repel any 
grade of ink, while this adheres thickly in the shadows, 
then the formation of the relief has been forced too far. 

If the print takes the ink neither in the high lights 
nor the shadows, there is either a fault in the preliminary 
preparation, as, for instance, bleaching in too warm a 
solution, or one too strongly acidified, or the print has 
been acted on too energetically by the ammonia bath. 
In the last case the print may be dried and again swollen 
in water. 

If large or small irregular spots which take the ink 


THE INKING-UP 


77 


more strongly than the surrounding parts, are formed 
during the inking , the reason is either that the prints 
have lain one on top of the other in the preliminary 
baths, or the film has been prevented from swelling by 
air bubbles, or by having risen out of the water. Thus 
certain places are less well prepared or are not swollen, 
and therefore behave as though they had been more 
strongly tanned, that is to say, they take even the first 
ink strongly and stand out from their surroundings as 
spots and streaks. Sometimes such spots are improved 
by putting more ink on the print; if they are not of 
large area and are in the less important parts of the 
picture, they may be ignored, as they can be removed 
from the finished print without special trouble, as will 
be explained later. If, however, the spots have a large 
area, or occur in an important part of the picture, for 
instance, in the eyes of a portrait, it is preferable to 
stop further work. As a matter of fact, all such blem¬ 
ishes may be removed by after treatment of the print, 
but the trouble entailed by the correction of large faults 
is greater than the work of preparing a new print. 

Sometimes darker spots or streaks of irregular outline 
show themselves during the work, which from their shape 
cannot be ascribed either to air bubbles or to partial 
sinking of the relief. Then there are probably irregu¬ 
larities in the gelatine coating, for which the preliminary 
treatment of the bromide print is not responsible. 

If the print shows a satisfactory relief, but still takes 
the ink badly or not at all, the reason is in the incorrect 
composition of the bleaching solution, or the omission 
of the intermediate drying after bleaching. 

Finally it may happen that the image appears almost 
as a negative during inking-up, since the high lights 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


78 

take the ink quicker than the shadows. This phenome¬ 
non appears when the intermediate drying after bleach¬ 
ing has been omitted, or if the work has been begun 
with too soft an ink. In such cases, if too much ink 
has not been applied, the fault can be corrected by 
further working-up with a hard ink. If this is of no 
use, all the ink must be removed from the faulty places 
in the manner already described. 

If during the inking-up small irregular white spots in 
groups show themselves and shift their places, then there 
are drops of water in the brush or on the print. The 
print should be dried, the brush also, and the spots 
hopped dry and worked over. 

Yellow or brown spots and patches , which often ap¬ 
pear during the work, increasing in number and con¬ 
tinually enlarging, or even penetrating through the film 
into the fiber of the paper, are to be ascribed to the 
fact that particles of amidol were deposited on the film 
before the soaking of the print. When these particles 
dissolve in water they cause the trouble just described. 
If there are merely scattered spots of this kind which 
have not penetrated the paper, they may be scraped out 
of the finished print and then retouched. The real 
remedy, however, is in keeping the amidol carefully 
closed and as far as possible not in the same room as 
the prepared prints. 

Ink streaks , which a print treated with a soft ink 
shows when it is taken out of the warm water, only 
appear when the print is placed in a slanting or vertical 
position; they can be avoided by taking the print from 
the water and immediately bringing it into a horizontal 
position on the support and rapidly drying, so that the 
water cannot run off. 


THE INKING-UP 


79 

The failures caused by the use of the ammonia bath 
were described on page 46. 

Alteration of the Character of the Picture by 
the Inking. — If the inking is carried out exactly ac¬ 
cording to the previous instructions, which have been 
given chiefly for the benefit of beginners, the result will 
be a picture which, as regards gradation, will be like 
the original bromide print before it was bleached. The 
finished bromoil print, produced by a perfectly even 
application of ink over the whole picture by means of 
successive additions, each thoroughly worked over with 
the brush, differs from the original bromide print in 
coloration, structure, more extended gradation, and 
change in the character of its surface. As the worker 
is at liberty to stop at any desired stage of the work, 
he can obtain from the original bromide print, according 
to his taste, a delicate light-toned bromoil or a very rich 
and highly modulated print, or any intermediate stage 
between these two extremes. 

Yet these possibilities by themselves alone would not 
justify the conversion of the original bromide print 
into a bromoil. The substitution of a new photographic 
positive process for an old one is only justified if the 
new process accomplishes something essentially different 
and above all something better. But absolutely uniform 
working over of the bleached bromide print with greasy 
inks does not completely fulfil this postulate. Mere 
changes of gradation of the whole picture or of its color 
can certainly be attained by simpler photographic 
methods. The extraordinary advantages of the bromoil 
process lie in other directions. 

Bromoil printing, for instance, permits us to ink any 
individual part of the print more or less, or even not 


8o 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


at all, at will; it is possible to give enormous brilliance 
and aerial perspective to the high lights; they may show 
when finished every tonal value represented in the nega¬ 
tive; it is also possible to darken them to an extraor¬ 
dinary extent by the application of more or softer ink. 
On the other hand, the shadows may be kept perfectly 
light by omitting to ink them or by very delicate treat¬ 
ment, or, by successive applications of the ink, they may 
be strengthened to very great intensity and yet retain 
all their details. 

The worker has wide opportunity for control in the 
local treatment of his prints. His dependence on the 
negative is limited to the drawing, while in the treat¬ 
ment of the tonal values he is absolute master. Most 
of the other positive processes are dependent on the 
negative for their extremes of depth and of delicacy; 
the bromoil process does not know this dependence. 
If it is desired to obtain a delicate picture from any 
negative, one uses only a little ink, and hops it off 
thoroughly; then there may be obtained from even the 
most contrasty negative a delicate print, but one thor¬ 
oughly worked out in all its details. On the other 
hand, there is practically no limit to the continued 
application of ink; the film is still capable of taking up 
more ink, long after the limits of artistic pictorial effect 
have been passed. The result is that in the bromoil 
process vigor and depth of the shadows can be produced 
in any desired intensity. The most striking advantage 
of the process lies, however, in the possibility of chang¬ 
ing the tonal values of any individual portion of the 
print at will. 

If for example, a negative was used in making the 
original bromide print which had been taken without 


THE INKING-UP 


81 


any attention to the requirements for getting correct 
tones, by suitable treatment in making the bromoil one 
can obtain an approximately correct print without special 
trouble, since one can, for instance, convert an abso¬ 
lutely clogged-up sky, which is pure white in the bro¬ 
mide print, to a suitable grey tone by the use of soft 
ink, and at the same time lighten foliage which is too 
dark; a flat print, wanting in plasticity, may be im¬ 
proved by making objects in the foreground more vigor¬ 
ous, and accentuating appropriate parts of the middle 
distance. It is easily possible to supply the lacking 
aerial perspective of certain kinds of prints. In portrait 
work in the bromoil process, skilful workmanship ren¬ 
ders one absolutely independent of the nature of the 
background. A light background can be made dark, 
a dark one light. In portraits taken out of doors, the 
small details of the background that are out of focus 
or obtrusive may be omitted, toned down or completely 
remodeled. Unpleasing details of the clothing or the 
hair can be omitted or so far softened down that they 
are no longer disturbing. We are able to accentuate 
certain parts of the picture to make them dominant, 
while other parts of the image may be treated very 
sketchily; in short, the possibilities of control which this 
process offers are almost inexhaustible. 

I will now try to outline the methods of carrying out 
some of these modifications, as far as is possible without 
practical demonstration. 

The beginner is first of all recommended to use a 
proof print from the negative as a check, so that he 
may have a clear idea as to what changes he needs to 
make, and so that further, in carrying out his ideas, he 
does not change neighboring parts of the print which 


82 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


should remain unchanged. The simplest example of 
control is the lightening of the shadows. This is done 
by very careful application of the ink, which is stopped 
before the shadow parts become too dark. One should 
avoid touching such parts later with the brush, when it 
is charged with soft ink. 

If light portions are to be made darker, the procedure 
depends upon the size of the parts involved. Extensive 
parts of the picture in high relief, as for instance the 
sky, should be gone over as evenly as possible with a 
suitable soft ink, and with this, simultaneously, by going 
lightly over the lighter places and applying it more 
heavily here and there, clouds may be put in. The even¬ 
ness of the inking is of the greatest importance here, 
as it cannot later be hopped off very much; frequently 
in such cases the ink only lies on the surface, without 
adhering firmly; if left untouched, it combines intimately 
with the surface when the print is dry, but is easily re¬ 
moved by hopping. It is possible to change the outlines 
of neighboring parts of the image; if too dark edges are 
formed, they can be easily softened by after treatment 
of the finished print. In some cases it may be necessary 
to add considerable quantities of varnish or linseed oil 
to dilute the ink. The darkening of too light places 
may be also effected by dabbing ink with the brush on 
the finished dried print, which the print then naturally 
takes all over. 

If tiny light patches are to be made darker , the point 
of the large brush, or if necessary of a very small brush 
should be used, avoiding any disturbance of surrounding 
parts, as far as possible. Such changes are difficult only 
when the bright spots that are to be worked out are in 
immediate contact with very dark parts. The process 


THE INKING-UP 


83 

is much simpler when parts of the print of medium tones, 
which are surrounded by lighter parts, are to be dark¬ 
ened. If, for instance, the eyes of a portrait are to be 
darkened, ink should be applied to the whole of the 
eye with a small brush, and then hopped off. A tree 
trunk, which must be brought out in relief, should be 
covered throughout its whole length with soft ink, and 
the ink should then be worked over, by hopping it 
from the lighter toward the darker parts. In practice, 
the bringing together of neighboring tones, which differ 
considerably in value, can be easily effected by hopping 
off the ink from the darker parts with a brush that has 
not been freshly charged with ink, and depositing it 
on the lighter parts. The lightening of too dark places 
can also be attained by going over them with a perfectly 
clean brush that has not been dipped in the ink. 
Isolated high lights can be accentuated by touching 
them with a pointed water-color brush, dipped in water; 
then the film swells and repels the ink. Stained high 
lights or too dark middle tones may be lightened by 
wetting a brush of proper size by means of a wet cloth 
and then lightly hopping with this the places which are 
to be corrected. The brush picks up the color, but 
must be immediately cleaned by rubbing it on a clean 
portion of the palette, after which it may be again wet 
and used again. Clouds can be worked into dark parts 
of the sky in this way. 

The Structure of the Ink. — Independently of the 
surface of the paper on which the work is done, the 
structure of the coating of ink can be influenced by the 
nature of the brush work. If a brush well charged with 
ink has its full surface placed firmly on the gelatine 
film and then slowly lifted up, an impression of the 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


84 

surface of the brush remains; the individual hairs or 
groups of hairs of the brush have each deposited a 
part of the ink that they had taken up, and a very 
coarse-grained spot of ink is produced. If we now hop, 
that is, dab with quick light blows of the brush, the ink 
begins to be distributed, since it is taken away from the 
lighter parts and taken up by the shadows. The draw¬ 
ing of the picture thus appears under the brush, at first 
with a very coarse grain and without many details. The 
longer one hops and thus distributes the ink, the finer 
becomes the grain, and it especially becomes much finer 
on the addition of softer ink. The bromoil printer 
hence has it completely within his power to limit the 
division of the ink to any desired coarseness of grain f 
assuming, of course, that he has suited the consistency 
of the ink to the degree of relief, and is therefore able 
to completely finish the print with the original ink with¬ 
out adding any softer. Prints may thus be prepared, 
which because of their coarse structure, resemble certain 
graphic methods. But, when this is intended, the ap¬ 
plication of the ink must be carried on as evenly as 
possible from the beginning, so that it needs very little 
hopping off, for any considerable amount of hopping 
unavoidably produces a finer grain. Even if the use 
of softer inks is necessary, a coarse structure can be ob¬ 
tained by suitable brush work. The longer, however, 
the ink is distributed by hopping, the finer becomes the 
structure of the ink film and the smoother the surface. 

The most perfect smoothness is also attainable, if it 
is desired for any reason. For this a not too volatile 
solvent should be used, such as heavy benzol. The 
method of using this is as follows: when the print has 
been fully inked and is complete, though still somewhat 


THE INKING-UP 


85 


coarse-grained, a cloth should be wet with the benzol, 
and the brush lightly pressed thereon and then passed 
quickly over the desired parts of the picture. At first 
a smeared spot is formed on the surface of the print; 
by continued gentle hopping the spot is gradually worked 
out, and by continued working we get a fineness of 
detail, equal to that of printing-out paper. It is true 
that even the highest lights acquire a delicate film of 
ink, so that a print treated in this w T ay is somewhat 
low in key. If the hopping with the brush charged with 
benzol is not continued until the finest possible grain 
is attained, a misty effect may be produced, with some 
suppression of the finest details; a method which is fre¬ 
quently useful in the production of landscapes. 

By suitable ink and brush technique the effect of any 
other known photographic printing process may be at¬ 
tained in bromoil printing, from the rich-in-detail gloss 
of collodio-chloride paper to the characteristic effects 
of gum-bichromate. Yet the far-reaching possibilities 
which bromoil places at our command really only begin 
where most of the other processes end. 

Different Methods of Working. — In the follow¬ 
ing pages some of the different methods of technique, 
which the bromoil process permits, will be briefly 
sketched. Obviously, however, the description of these 
methods cannot be made complete without practical 
demonstration. Nor can all conceivable methods of 
working be mentioned, as individual treatment of the 
process can be varied in many ways. 

We will first describe the method of working which 
is most suitable for the beginner, because it offers 
tolerable certainty to those who have not yet mastered 
the process. 


86 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The beginner, in order to obtain good results, must 
start with a bromide print as clean and well-modeled as 
possible, and its high lights should not be fogged in the 
least. He should place the print, bleached and prepared 
exactly according to the methods detailed in this book, 
in water at about i8° C. (65° F.), leave it there for 
a few minutes, dry its surface, and begin the application 
of the ink with the stiffer ink, which should be thinly 
applied and then worked over until the hopping brings 
out no further detail. If the drawing of the image 
does not quickly appear upon hopping the print, and 
the result is only a detailless patch of ink, the original 
temperature of the soaking bath must be increased. 
Then the print should be again immersed in the water, 
left for two minutes, and again dried. The work of 
hopping is now continued with the same brush with 
which the print was originally treated, and without its 
having been again put into the ink. As a rule the mere 
placing of the print in water again will have increased 
the contrasts, and new details will have appeared, which 
can be considerably accentuated by now going over with 
the brush. Only when the print has been again worked 
over, should fresh ink be carefully applied with the 
brush; this should then be distributed by hopping, and 
the print again soaked in water. The procedure thus 
outlined: application of the ink, hopping, soaking, go¬ 
ing over it with the empty brush, fresh ink applica¬ 
tion, hopping, soaking, and so on, is continued as 
long as the print gains in strength and depth, with¬ 
out becoming dull or muddy. If, however, this point 
is reached, the inked print should be immersed in 
water at a rather higher temperature and left in 
it for some minutes. The print is then further 


THE INKING-UP 


87 

treated with the brush, without fresh inking, and will 
soon become much clearer in the high lights. If the 
clearing thus obtained is not sufficient, the temperature 
of the water bath should be increased by a few degrees, 
but not more than 5° C. (9 0 F.) at a time. As the 
high lights become clearer it may happen that the stiff 
ink will no longer be taken up. Then it is necessary 
to soften it a little. This method of working will 
guarantee to the beginner the attainment of good results 
with tolerable certainty. 

Hard Ink Technique ( Coarse-grain Prints). — If it 
is desired to prepare a bromoil print of rough surface 
and coarser character, the worker must be able to finish 
the print exclusively with a relatively hard ink. For 
this it is necessary to determine by trial the temperature 
of the water bath at which the film of the print acquires 
a relief which is absolutely suitable for the stiff ink. 
When this degree of relief has been found, the print 
should be inked up strongly but evenly from the very 
start, so that one is not compelled to go over individual 
places several times with the brush. Thus the coarse 
structure of the ink is obtained. The use of hog’s 
bristle brushes is also efficacious in coarse-grained 
work. 

Soft Ink Technique. — This method of working is 
used on the one hand for the preparation of low-toned 
misty effects, on the other hand to obtain fully and 
richly modeled prints. In the first case the bromide 
print should be correctly exposed, but not completely 
developed; while in the second case it should be thor¬ 
oughly developed. The print is then, according to the 
choice of the operator, either brought at once to a fairly 
high relief, or only gradually raised to the same relief 


88 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


during the application of the ink. Then, in the course 
of inking, a point is soon reached at which the stiffer 
ink is repelled by the high lights and perhaps also by 
the lighter half-tones, and during the hopping is again 
taken up by the brush. Then the ink should be care¬ 
fully softened with linseed oil or varnish, and the whole 
print gone over with the softer ink. Prints which are 
executed in the soft ink technique are characterized by 
a specially fine velvety surface after defatting. 

Sketch Technique. — If one proposes to completely 
work up certain parts of a print and leave the rest 
treated in a sketchy manner, and possibly to omit some 
parts altogether, one should begin by working up the 
part which should stand out. Thus, in a portrait, the 
head should be first worked up; then proceed systemati¬ 
cally, with the ink remaining in the brush, to sketch 
in the clothing and the background, and perhaps leave 
unimportant parts of the print completely untouched. 
To facilitate the work, disturbing details or a too promi¬ 
nent background may be removed or reduced on the 
bromide print, before bleaching, with dilute Farmer’s 
reducer. If, when the work is finished, the parts that 
have not been inked are visible through their relief and 
glossiness, these traces of the uninked picture completely 
disappear in drying, if the original bromide print was 
not developed too vigorously. If one contemplates pro¬ 
ducing a vignette, it is absolutely unnecessary to obtain 
this by the use of masks or vignetters when making the 
bromide print. The effects which result from the suit¬ 
able treatment of the bromoil print are far more free 
and beautiful. 

If certain parts of the picture are to be accentuated 
and all the rest is to be rendered visible, even if only 


THE INKING-UP 


89 

sketchily, one may also work in the reverse way. The 
whole picture should be given a thin coating of ink, 
as even as possible, which should be hopped only just 
enough to barely bring out the drawing. Then work 
out those parts, to which attention is to be directed, 
keeping as closely as possible to the outlines. When 
these, the most important parts of the print, are finished, 
it is frequently seen that the rest of the picture is too 
delicate. This should then be gone over again with the 
ink as at first, without completely working it up, until 
the correct tonal value is attained. Then the necessary 
harmony is obtained by going over the outlines with 
the brush. 

Large Heads. — The far-reaching possibilities of the 
bromoil process offer special advantages for the free 
modification of tones in portraits. It is advisable to 
take the portraits with a neutral or dark background. 
The only exception is when a head is to be done in red 
chalk, when a white background is preferable. Starting 
from such a negative in bromoil printing the background 
may be kept, according to choice, either light or very 
dark, or be shaded. One precaution should, however, 
be observed in every case; before starting on the head 
itself, the background should be worked in lightly from 
the margins toward the head, so that no dark line may 
be formed when working on the outlines of the portrait. 
If this shows during the work, it must be worked down 
to harmony with the background at once before it gets 
too dark. One can, therefore, from a given negative, 
produce at will either a fully worked-up head against 
a dark ground, or a light, sketchy image on the light 
background of the paper, or any intermediate stage. 

If, as previously suggested, parts of the picture are 


go 


B ROM OIL PRINTING 


to be treated sketchily, while others are to be fully 
worked up, the parts which should appear sketchy are 
allowed to remain coarse-grained, while the structure 
gradually becomes finer in passing into the worked-up 
portions. No portion, however, should be made per¬ 
fectly structureless. Bromoil prints thus worked up are 
much more artistic than those pictures which are known 
by the name of photo-sketches. The latter usually 
show a head, printed with all the gradation and fullness 
of detail given by printing-out paper. The tone becomes 
gradually lighter toward the edges, where we find some 
strong lines, imitating the character of a line drawing, 
all surrounded by a perfectly white background. To 
the trained eye the technique of such photo-sketches is 
abominable, for the contrast between the inimitable 
detail of the head and the perfectly blank background 
is so great that it cannot be bridged over by the effort 
to imitate the manner of an etching. On the other hand, 
such problems can be solved in an artistic way with 
our process, for the head may always be produced in 
a rather coarse grain, so that it dovetails harmoniously 
into the sketchily treated surroundings. 

Oil-Painting Style. — If it is desired to prepare 
portraits which resemble reproductions of oil paintings, 
one should proceed as follows: the head should be first 
inked in considerably deeper than it should appear in 
the final print; then, if the head is on a light back¬ 
ground, it will appear vigorous, even if not much ink 
is used. If, however, the background is dark and 
heavy, the inked-up head will appear considerably lighter 
because of the contrast. For this style of work it is 
best to select a warm dark brown ink. When the head 
is finished, some very soft ink of the same shade should 


THE INKING-UP 


9i 


be placed very thickly in the corners and margins of the 
picture, and this should be worked from all sides towards 
the head, which naturally must not be touched with 
the soft ink. Finally the blending of the head with 
the background should be very carefully done. In the 
lower part of the portrait the clothing should blend 
into the background in a similar manner; only one must 
take care in making the negative that no light pieces 
of drapery or accessories are used, because they cannot 
be easily completely covered. Any lighter accents, 
which may be desired in the background, should be 
made by removing the ink with a clean brush. One 
may thus make the head stand out in a dark oval, or 
attain similar painting effects. Prints prepared in this 
way ought not to be defatted, as they then lose their 
similarity to oil paintings. They must be left to dry for 
several days, in a place free from dust, until the thickly- 
applied ink has hardened. 

Night Pictures. — Twilight and night effects can be 
easily obtained from ordinary negatives by carefully 
swelling the bleached print so that the differences of 
relief existent in the print are only slightly brought out. 
Then the capacity of the lights and shadows for taking 
the ink is not so very different, and the gradation is 
shorter. A second possibility of obtaining the same 
effect is offered by using mainly soft ink, which, as is 
well known, adheres to a certain extent even in the high 
lights of the print; only the soft ink must be applied 
very carefully and thinly in the shadows, so that these 
do not become choked up with ink. 

In this way one may make night pictures from day¬ 
light exposures, accurately corresponding in tone values 
to night exposures. Previous practice has been to use 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


92 

either underexposed negatives or overexposed prints for 
such effects; in both cases the night effects were gloomy, 
but false in tone values, and usually without details in 
the shadows. In bromoil printing the gradation can 
be shortened as described, without loss of drawing, and 
one can simulate perfectly the short scale and mysterious 
gloom of night. If the too dense sky of the negative 
cannot be sufficiently darkened by the use of soft ink, 
its inking should be postponed till the print is dry. 

Prints with White Margins. — If it is desired to 
obtain bromoil prints with margins of the natural paper, 
the negative should be masked with clean-cut black 
safe-edges of lantern slide binding strips, or one may 
use a mask, and print or enlarge on a sheet of bromide 
paper large enough to leave unexposed margins of the 
desired width. In making enlargements the mask, cut 
out of rather thin card, should be pinned on the en¬ 
larging screen over the sheet of bromide paper. After 
bleaching such a print the tanned image will appear 
slightly depressed within a strongly swollen, white frame 
of less tanned gelatine. The inking is done without any 
attention being paid to this unprinted edge. In conse¬ 
quence of its strong relief this gelatine does not take 
any ink from the brush, or, at most, a mere trace. When 
the print is finished, the ink is easily wiped from the 
white margins by means of a damp cloth, which removes 
this ink with the greatest ease. The finished and dried 
print is enhanced in effect if a plate mark is impressed 
in this wide white margin. 

The Swelled-Grain Image. — Coarse-grain printing 
in bromoil has previously depended on a very carefully 
determined relation between the degree of relief of the 
film and the consistency of the ink, which had to be so 


THE INKING-UP 


93 


chosen that the ink was not very easily taken up by 
the film. If inking was then skilfully done, the struc¬ 
ture of the face of the brush was visible to a certain 
extent all over the print and gave the effect of a more 
or less coarse and irregular-grained image. It was ob¬ 
viously necessary for the success of a print of this type 
that no portion of the image should be gone over several 
times with the brush, for, if this was done, the structure 
was obliterated and the spot in question became smooth. 
Since, also, the requirement that the degree of relief 
must be rather high for the chosen consistency of the ink 
could never be fulfilled by the shadows, since these 
always take the color easily, we often obtained an un¬ 
desired smoothness of effect in the shadows. For this 
reason typical coarse-grain prints could not always be 
produced with certainty. 

I therefore endeavored to improve the technique of 
bromoil in this respect and to work out a grain method 
which could be depended upon with certainty in every 
case. The basic thought was that the jundamental basis 
jor making a coarse grain print should be a part of the 
film itself , and I endeavored to prepare the latter so 
that a grain structure could be produced which should 
equally underlie all parts of the image. 

Such a grain structure can theoretically be obtained 
in the following way: if we allow a properly prepared 
uninked bromoil print, which has been brought to the 
proper degree of relief, to dry off a little and then spray 
it by means of an atomizer with extremely fine liquid 
drops, the film will again swell up under every drop, 
but only under these; and when we ink up, we obtain 
a definite grain effect which, however, only persists if 
the inking is completed before the sprayed-on water 


94 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


grain again dries out. Such a relief grain is not perma¬ 
nent, because the subsequently swollen portions of the 
film cannot retain the difference in swelling. This 
process, therefore, has only experimental interest and 
practically can be used but rarely. 

To make the swelled grain useful, the secondarily 
swollen points of the film must permanently retain the 
difference in swelling which has been imparted to them. 

To attain this end, I start from the fact that por¬ 
tions of the gelatine which are treated with alkaline 
solution will swell much more in a bath of warm water 
than spots which have not been thus handled. If, there¬ 
fore, the desired grain can be applied to the film by 
means of an alkaline solution, all the elements of the 
grain will swell up more strongly in the water bath 
than their surroundings, and will therefore protrude 
above the rest .of the film and thus attain and retain 
a better degree of swelling than the latent tanned image. 

The next step was obviously a practical treatment 
of the film by spraying it as evenly as possible with 
extremely fine drops of an alkaline solution. It soon 
appeared that the greatest attention must be paid to 
the type of apparatus with which the spraying was to be 
done. Any atomizer whose spray combines fine and 
coarse drops is useless. Any atomizer which is worked 
by blowing with the mouth or by intermittent blasts 
of a pump is unsuitable, for at the instant when the 
stream of air is interrupted, a certain quantity of liquid 
remains in the mouthpiece and is thrown out by the 
next blast of air in the form of coarse drops. Therefore, 
only continuously functioning atomizers can be used, 
preferably those types which are actuated by double 
rubber bellows. Only with such atomizers is it possible 


THE INKING-UP 


95 


to count with a fair degree of certainty on the production 
of a system of uniformly fine drops. Ammonia, which 
has previously been generally used in bromoil printing 
as a swelling agent, cannot be used to produce such a 
grain, because the ammonia gas volatilizes in great part 
in its passage through the air. A five per cent solution 
of potassium carbonate has been found to be most 
satisfactory. 

The next question is at what stage of the process 
the swelled grain should be produced. Making it on 
the dry print is not permissible, because the droplets 
are taken up too greedily by the dry film and diffuse 
quickly and irregularly. The safest method of working 
is to place the bleached and dried print in cold water 
until it becomes limp, then blot it off until quite dry on 
the surface, and then treat it. 

The practical method of producing the swelled grain 
is as follows: the print, which has been swelled in cold 
water and thoroughly dried off, is placed on a horizontal 
support and the atomizer set in action; as soon as it 
works with complete uniformity, it is passed back and 
forth across the print as evenly as possible under con¬ 
tinuous observation, until the whole print is uniformly 
covered with a layer of extremely fine drops. The most 
important precaution is the continuous observation of 
the print while the spraying is being done, and this is 
best done by having the light fall on the print at as 
small an angle as possible. The practical way to do 
this is as follows: the print is laid on a table near 
the window. The operator sits in front of the window 
and gets both his eye and the atomizer very slightly 
above and in front of the print. Under these conditions 
there is a reflection of light in every single drop, which 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


96 

makes the observation of the distribution of the drops 
very easy. At the instant when the whole film seems 
to be uniformly covered with dew, the atomizer is quickly 
turned away from the print. 

It is necessary to be thoroughly familiar with the 
action of the atomizer which is being used; with most 
atomizers the finest drops, on account of their light¬ 
ness, fall downwards not very far from the mouthpiece, 
while others project their finest drops to a greater dis¬ 
tance. The sprayed print, which naturally cannot be 
touched on the film side, must be left undisturbed for 
a certain period, which must be determined by experi¬ 
ment, for it depends, among other things, on the tem¬ 
perature of the room and the peculiarities of the paper 
which is used. An approximate idea may be had by 
considering these points: the longer the potassium 
carbonate solution lies on the print, the more the finest 
drops evaporate, while somewhat larger drops continue 
their action, so that the grain becomes coarser through 
longer action. A coarse grain can also be obtained by 
the use of coarse drops. If the drops are allowed to 
dry completely, the diffusion produced during this longer 
time results in an extra swelling of the whole film, with¬ 
out any grain effect. 

After a sufficient time has elapsed, the potassium 
carbonate solution is removed from the film by rinsing 
or blotting off, and the print is swollen to the necessary 
degree. It is obvious that much lower temperatures 
must be used for this than if the print had not been 
treated with the graining solution, for the drops of the 
potassium carbonate solution cover a considerable frac¬ 
tion of the surface of the print. The fact that the greater 
portion of the surface of the print has been affected by 


THE INKING-UP 


97 

the spray makes it apparent that the alkaline solution 
cannot be replaced by a tanning solution, for the greater 
portion of the film would become less capable of swell¬ 
ing if such a solution were used, and therefore the latent 
tanned image would be destroyed. When the print is 
blotted off after swelling, it should show a scarcely visible 
relief when looked at by light falling from the side. 
The actual effect of the grain cannot be perceived until 
after the inking has been done. 

The prints obtained in this way have, if the treatment 
has been successful, a very beautiful grained structure 
which extends over the lights and shadows quite evenly. 
It is possible to work on such a print quite normally 
without having to harmonize the degree of relief and 
the consistency of the ink with great accuracy. Espe¬ 
cially is it possible to work up any given part of the 
print as long as desired with the brush without en¬ 
dangering the structure; on the contrary, it is improved 
by this treatment. For bromoil transfer, there are the 
following special advantages: every new transfer has 
exactly the same coarseness of grain, if this is imparted 
to the film once for all. In combination transfer, the 
grain persists in spite of the fact that several impressions 
are made on the same paper, because the swelled-grain 
elements are re-impressed in the same spots, if the 
registration is accurate. 

Finally, it might be well to mention a few causes of 
failure which frequently occur in the first experiments. 
If the print appears to be covered with many small white 
spots at a certain distance apart but not in contact, the 
grain is too heavy and therefore does not take up enough 
ink. In this case, after rinsing, the print may be 
sprayed once more, carefully and not too heavily. 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


98 

Larger white spots on the print show that when the 
grain was made large drops were produced by the at¬ 
omizer. If such drops are noticed while spraying, the 
print should be immediately placed in water, dried off 
and sprayed again. If the print shows spots of rather 
large area which do not take ink and only show irregular 
ink spots here and there, it has been sprayed too long, 
that is, too much potash solution was applied, and the 
print is then useless as it cannot be corrected. In ad¬ 
dition, such a print may be easily recognized after 
swelling, for a coarse grain pattern will be clearly visi¬ 
ble on the film. 

This swelled-grain process permits of very beautiful 
and characteristic results, yet, like all variations, it 
assumes a solid knowledge of the bromoil process, and 
must be practically used over and over again before it 
can be applied with certainty. 

Mixing the Inks. — As has already been mentioned, 
we have at our command for bromoil not only black and 
brown, but any other color of ink in various shades. 

As a rule, however, colored inks are somewhat too 
bright to be used pure; moreover, as a rule they can 
only be had commercially in a fairly soft consistency. 
This is actually no disadvantage, as one is often forced 
by the consistency of the ink to do what is counselled 
by good taste, that is to tone down the colored ink with 
hard black ink. It is not practicable to make a mixture 
of hard black ink with the colored with the knife on the 
palette, because it is difficult to hit the exact shade with 
certainty in this way. It is better when using green, 
blue or any other colored ink to mix the inks with the 
brush on the bromoil print itself. First one should go 
over the whole print very delicately with hard black 


THE INKING-UP 


99 

ink and almost complete the drawing by hopping. Then 
the work should be continued as would be done if we 
were mixing hard and soft ink, merely replacing the soft 
black ink by the colored one. Then the work should 
be continued with the mixed ink; if the exact shade has 
not been hit, more or less of one or the other color is 
taken up by the brush until the desired color effect is 
obtained. 

It is immaterial that those parts of the print on which 
one has tested the mixture show a little too bright or 
too dark a tone. By going over these again with the 
final correct color these places, though perhaps only 
after resoaking, will reach the proper tone, as the ink 
in the brush and that already on the print quickly mix 
to a uniform value. 

If, in the course of the work, it appears that the 
mixture of this and the colored ink, the color tone 

adhere properly, it is not advisable to attempt further 

softening by the addition of soft black ink. By the 
mixture of this and the colored ink, the color tone 

already decided on will be altered. In such a case 

varnish or linseed oil must be used to soften the mixed 
ink. 

Polychrome Bromoils. — Prints of two or more 
colors have previously been made, aside from the three- 
color process printed from three-color separation nega¬ 
tives, chiefly by the gum-bichromate process, by coating 
the print successively in different colors. After each 
coating the negative was printed, usually with masks, 
and the unnecessary parts of each colored coating were 
washed away during development. The preparation of 
a polychrome gum print is extremely tedious and uncer¬ 
tain. Not the least of the difficulties is the fact that in 


100 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


consequence of the addition of the chromate the color 
effect cannot be determined with accuracy until the 
print is finished and the chromium salts are removed. 
Moreover, as a rule the color layers are perfectly dis¬ 
tinct and the color mixtures formed by their juxta¬ 
position must be accepted as they happen to come. A 
correction of the colors during the work is not easily 
effected. 

The bromod process, on the other hand, is in its very 
essence preeminently suitable for work in several colors , 
and offers all the possibilities which have previously 
been lacking. Without any special preliminary prepara¬ 
tion the worker can apply any number oj different colors 
to one and the same print at one sitting; he can har¬ 
monize them to each other during the progress oj the 
work, combine neighboring colors by working them into 
each other on the print and easily correct any error that 
may occur. 

It is true that the execution of a bromoil print in poly¬ 
chrome requires complete mastery of the process; an 
indispensable condition is a perfect command of the 
handling of brush and ink. Therefore, experiments in 
polychrome bromoil printing can only be recommended 
to those who have the monochrome process absolutely 
at their fingers’ tips. 

If a negative is to be printed in several colors, the 
worker must first be absolutely clear as to his artistic 
scheme and know exactly in what color each individual 
part of the print must be executed; he must further be 
sure that the chosen colors harmonize with each other. 
He will not always be satisfied with the colors to be 
found in commerce, but must prepare the necessary inks 
for himself. 


THE INKING-UP 


IOI 


At first pictures should be chosen which contain 
large areas of uniform coloration, and as few colors as 
possible should be used. If you are not perfectly 
familiar with the print, it is necessary to have a proof as 
a guide, so as not to overstep the outlines of the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the image which are to be individually 
colored. 

The best way of setting to work is as follows: first 
select the color necessary for one or more of the larger 
areas of the picture, for instance green for the foliage, 
and work up these areas completely, until they have ac¬ 
quired the requisite vigor and detail. Such parts of the 
outlines as are adjacent to lighter, and hence more 
strongly swollen parts of the print, need be given no 
special attention, for color that does not belong on 
them may easily be removed again with the damp cloth, 
as previously mentioned. On the other hand it is well 
to work carefully with every outline which lies next to 
a darker part of the picture which is finally to be of 
another color. Here it is best not to apply the ink right 
up to the boundary, but to complete the inking with a 
small brush only after the adjacent parts are coated 
with their own color. If, however, such outlines are 
overstepped and the adjacent parts are colored with an 
ink that should not be applied to them, this should be 
removed with a very wet cloth, twisted to a fine point, 
by gentle rubbing. During this the print should remain 
on the pad. If the incorrectly inked portions are small 
in area the ink may be removed with art-gum. 

When the first large areas are finished, the print 
should be again soaked in water, as it will probably have 
dried somewhat, then dried off, and another part of the 
picture dealt with, with a fresh color. If the adjacent 


102 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


colors are properly chosen, the result, with objects which 
have no sharp outlines but merge into one another, will 
be that the adjacent parts will spontaneously blend into 
a harmonious transition of color. Parts of the picture 
which have the same basic color must not be done 
throughout in one and the same shade; thus large 
stretches of vegetation, which extend into the distance, 
should be executed in front in a yellowish green, and 
should be shaded back into a bluish green and insen¬ 
sibly into blue in the distance; such transitions can be 
effected without difficulty. If in the shadows there are 
small parts which require another color, they should be 
inked with a very bright color, which is then reduced 
by going over the whole surface at one time. 

If it is found that a mistake has been made in any 
color, that part of the print may be cleared of ink as 
described on page 72, and the work repeated. If it 
should finally appear that individual colors are too 
glaring or that the whole color scheme is too harsh, it 
is possible to go over individual parts or the whole print 
with some suitable color, so that the colors already ap¬ 
plied are improved by a slight admixture of this cov¬ 
ering color. 

Such a procedure shows most emphatically what ad¬ 
vantages there are in the possibility of mixing and ton¬ 
ing down the colors on the print itself. As a rule, to 
tone down too bright colors, these portions or even the 
whole print are gone over with black ink, but if neces¬ 
sary other colors may be used for the same purpose. 

Thus, for instance, a picture in which there are brown 
roofs, yellowish-green foliage, a sky of a pronounced 
blue shade and water of another blue, can be made 
harmonious by going over the whole print very lightly 


THE INKING-UP 


103 

with the blue of the sky. Thus the vegetation will lose 
some of its yellowish tone, and all other colors, without 
losing their own characteristics, will acquire a certain 
unity. If the sky parts of a picture are swollen too 
much, their uniform inking is not easy. Then it is 
advisable to ink up the sky only on the dry print, as is 
suggested on page 112. 

Because the tonality of any color, which has already 
been applied, can be altered with the brush, polychrome 
bromoil printing affords very great possibilities. Ob¬ 
viously good taste and a sound color sense are indispen¬ 
sable requisites, for without them there is danger of 
producing the undesirable effects characteristic of cer¬ 
tain colored postcards. It may also be remarked that 
the colors, after defatting, have a somewhat less pro¬ 
nounced brilliancy, as they lose their gloss. 

In polychrome bromoil printing, the choice of too 
small sizes is not to be recommended. The larger the 
picture is, the larger also are the areas which may be 
uniformly treated and, therefore, the easier it is to keep 
within the outlines. 

Within the limits of this chapter, it is not possible to 
teach polychrome bromoil printing, only to outline its 
fundamentals. The unlimited freedom which it offers will 
certainly in the course of time produce many excesses in 
color. For this, however, we should condemn, not the 
process itself, but those who have abused it. In general 
it will be as well not to approach too closely the actual 
colors of the objects represented, but to work for the at¬ 
tainment of artistic effects. We must, however, in any 
case avoid even the most remote imitation of the painter; 
we cannot arrive at the solution of the problem of na¬ 
tural colors on paper by the polychrome bromoil process. 


CHAPTER IV 

AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE FINISHED 
PRINT 

HE film of ink on the dried bromoil print after 



-I* the completion of the brush work is as a rule not 
very tender, except where much soft ink lies on the 
surface. It is not advisable, however, to put the print 
under pressure, as for instance in a printing frame, for 
under strong pressure the ink may still partially offset 
on the adjacent paper, so that the image is damaged. 
No pressure should be applied until after the removal 
of the fatty medium, which is described later. 

When the brush work is completed, the whole surface 
of the bromoil print shows a slight gloss, caused by 
the fatty medium of the ink. The shadows show a 
stronger sheen, especially in those places where there is 
more soft ink, for soft inks contain more medium. The 
surface of the print, so far as the gloss is concerned, is 
like that of a finished gum print. But with the latter 
the gloss cannot be removed; when it is desired to get 
rid of the unpleasant property of gum prints, that the 
shadows are more glossy than the rest of the print, it is 
necessary to make the whole print glossy by painting 
it with a solution of gum. This is also the case with the 
carbon process. 

With the bromoil process , on the other hand, it is 
easily possible to remove the gloss entirely. The shini¬ 
ness of a finished bromoil print is especially unpleasant 


104 


AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE PRINT 105 

when seen sideways, but, in certain cases, it imparts 
depth to the picture and may be made fairly inoffen¬ 
sive by glazing the print. Prints which are to keep their 
gloss must be exposed to the air for some days, protected 
from dust, until the ink has completely hardened. Un¬ 
til this has happened, the surface of the picture, espe¬ 
cially where the ink is soft, is sensitive and ought not 
to be touched. 

Defatting the Ink Film. — Before removal of the 
fatty medium from the ink, the print must be absolutely 
dried out. It must be so dry that it rings sharply when 
the finger is snapped against it. Also, the dish in which 
the defatting is to be carried out must not contain the 
slightest trace of moisture, otherwise trouble will be 
caused. 

An easily volatile solvent of the fat, such as benzol, 
trichlorethylene, carbon tetrachloride, etc., should be 
poured into the dish, and the print immersed in the 
liquid and allowed to remain for some minutes with 
constant rocking. On account of the danger of fire 
from the vapors of benzol, no naked flame should be 
allowed in the room. Carbon tetrachloride (carbona), 
on the other hand, is non-inflammable; its solvent 
action, and that of the trichlorethylene, on fats, is much 
more rapid than that of benzol. 

The film of ink is, as a rule, not damaged by the sol¬ 
vent, though care should be taken with prints which have 
been executed wholly or mostly in soft ink. With such 
prints it may happen that the ink is entirely dissolved 
in parts, or that irregular sharp lines and streaks are 
suddenly formed. Soft ink prints should, therefore, be 
allowed to dry for several days before they are defatted. 
By the use of very energetic solvents, such, for instance, 


106 BROMOIL PRINTING 

as trichlorethylene and carbon tetrachloride, soft ink 
prints, as a rule, are completely dissolved. Benzol is, 
therefore, to be preferred in all cases. 

The print should be removed from the liquid without 
touching the ink film, softened by the solvent. This 
evaporates fairly quickly, and now the bromoil print 
has an absolutely matt surface of great beauty. It is 
here naturally assumed that the fatty medium of the ink 
is soluble in benzol, which is usually the case. 

The solution of the medium from the fatty ink, be- 
sides the removal of the gloss, has also the effect of fix¬ 
ing the surface of the picture and making it more resist¬ 
ant. While the film of ink before the defatting is fairly 
tender, it afterwards has a stability at least equal to 
that of a pencil drawing. The surface of the finished 
bromoil print is generally at least as little liable to dam¬ 
age as the film of prints prepared by other photographic 
methods. It seems as if the very minute grains of pig¬ 
ment contained in the fatty ink are made firmly ad¬ 
herent by the drying of the somewhat tacky gelatine 
film and therefore remain fixed even after the removal 
of the fatty medium. It is only from places in which 
a specially thick layer of soft ink was deposited, that a 
trifle of pigment dust can sometimes be removed by light 
friction. 

The defatting is therefore a procedure which is ad¬ 
visable in most cases and only after this is the bromoil 
print actually complete. After it has been carried out, 
the image consists of pure mineral pigment adhering 
firmly to the gelatine. It is self-evident that a print 
treated in such a way is absolutely permanent, provided 
that the inks used are non-fading, which is almost al¬ 
ways the case. One can also subsequently moisten or 


AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE PRINT 107 

soak the print without any danger if, for example, it is 
to be mounted on cardboard. 

Retouching the Print. — The defatted bromoil 
print is susceptible to the most far-reaching mechanical 
modification. The picture now consists, as already men¬ 
tioned, entirely of extremely fine particles of pigment 
adhering to the film about as strongly as the lines of a 
pencil drawing. This pigment can also now be treated 
with rubber exactly like a pencil drawing. The ink, as 
jar as it was put on by degrees, can also be removed by 
degrees from any desired place by proper measures. 

In the finished bromoil print the deepest shadows are 
formed by a comparatively thick layer of pigment, while 
the lights have only a very delicate coating of ink. We 
are consequently able to diminish the thickness of the 
film by proper treatment, removing it layer by layer, so 
that the shadows become more transparent, or the film 
of ink may be entirely removed, so that the gelatine base 
is laid bare. 

The best tool for this is a piece of a hard rubber eraser 
sharpened to a fine point with sandpaper or a file. It 
is also advisable to use a very soft sharpened eraser for 
treating very light places. 

Every part of the print which is to be lightened should 
now be gone over with the point of the rubber in fine 
lines very close together. The ink powder, which is 
taken up by the rubber, must be removed from time to 
time by rubbing the rubber on the sandpaper, or it will 
be left on the print again in the form of dark lines. If 
gentle rubbing with the eraser does not have the desired 
effect, it should be used more energetically. Sometimes 
the ink adheres so firmly that the rubber must be used 
quite vigorously in order to remove it. On the other 


108 BROMOIL PRINTING 

hand, where soft ink has been applied, one must work 
very lightly, or more ink may be removed than is 
desired. 

Important details of the picture may be completely 
taken out with the rubber without getting down to the 
paper, if the work is done carefully. Thus, for instance, 
unsharp figures in the foreground of a street scene, dis¬ 
turbing details in the background of a portrait, undesir¬ 
able details of a landscape, such as telegraph wires, ugly 
poles, trees, etc., may be removed almost without leaving 
a trace behind. If this treatment does leave visible 
marks, they can be easily made to disappear with brush 
and ink. 

For removing or lightening tiny spots or lines, or for 
removing brush hairs and similar imperfections left dur¬ 
ing the inking, one may use a sharp lancet or penknije, 
or a steel needle set in a handle. Yet in the use of these 
sharp instruments one must be careful to scrape the 
surface very gently and carefully, or the gelatine film 
may be cut, which leaves noticeable marks. 

The possibility of removing the ink from the finished 
print in layers by the use of an eraser, without leaving 
any trace, gives the bromoil printer another means for 
modifying the tone values of the print at will. If pre¬ 
conceived ideas were not fully carried out in the appli¬ 
cation of the ink, because tiny places could not be 
properly worked out with the brush, or because they 
were overlooked, the desired change of tone values can 
now be effected; with the aid of the rubber, also, espe¬ 
cially effective lights may be added to the picture. 

lf f in the application of the ink, large areas were not 
quite uniformly treated, they can be corrected now with¬ 
out trouble. Dark spots of ink can be easily removed 


AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE PRINT 109 

with the rubber, and it is often easier to even out a 
rather broken surface with the eraser than with the oil - 
printing brush. 

Bare spots, white points, and other defects of the 
image, or places from which too much ink has been re¬ 
moved with the eraser or penknife, are best spotted with 
water-color of proper shade, or in the case of brownish- 
black prints, even with charcoal. The defatted film 
takes the water-color easily and places treated with it 
remain perfectly matt; on the other hand, retouching 
with lead pencil should be avoided whenever possible, 
as this always produces a certain shininess, which is 
rendered particularly prominent by the dull surface of 
the rest of the print. A bromoil print which has not 
been defatted may also be retouched in the same way, 
but the parts worked up with the rubber are then notice¬ 
able. Filling up spots on such prints is best effected 
with oil-printing ink, applied with a water-color brush 
dipped in heavy benzol so as to dilute it. 

It is thus possible in the bromoil process to produce 
very comprehensive changes with rubber, needle and 
ink, without destroying the character of the picture. 
With some experience this work is done so quickly and 
easily that it is not necessary to retouch the negative at 
all, even with portraits. The removal of imperfections 
in the complexion or the softening of too sharp features 
can be effected much more quickly and with more cer¬ 
tainty as to the effect on the finished bromoil print than 
on the negative, especially as retouching on the nega¬ 
tive shows up unpleasantly in enlarging. 

The possibilities of after-treatment of a bromoil print 
are manifold. Thus, for instance, by means of the 
eraser very natural appearing clouds can be rubbed into 


no 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


the cloudless sky of a landscape not taken with an 
orthochroma tic plate, if in inking the sky is properly 
darkened. In the background and subordinate planes of 
a portrait, a certain draughtsmanlike character can be 
attained by suitable delicate strokes with the rubber. 
Ugly lines of the hair or clothing which could not be 
suitably dealt with in the inking-up, can now be altered 
with a little skill. A dull landscape may be made more 
lively by picking out a few lights. 

Finally, it may be mentioned that it is also possible 
to change the color of the paper base of the print, though 
this is best done before the application of the ink. Com¬ 
mercial bromide papers as a rule are only obtainable in 
white or yellowish tints. Another tone may be imparted 
to the paper, for instance reddish or bluish for certain 
effects; this is effected by swelling the bleached and 
fixed bromoil print in a dye solution which has been 
found suitable by preliminary trial with white paper. 
The paper fibers and the gelatine assume the desired 
color and the print after soaking is removed and worked 
up as usual; this staining may also be done with 
finished prints. 

Refatting of the Print. — As already mentioned, 
the finished bromoil print shows on its surface places 
with different degrees of gloss, since the parts of the 
picture which took a good deal of ink, as for instance 
the shadows, are more shiny than the rest. In order to 
remove these sometimes unpleasant effects; the finished 
bromoil print can be immersed in a fat solvent, which 
completely removes the glossy medium from the ink 
film. After the evaporation of the solvent the bromoil 
print has a perfectly matt surface. 

Frequently, however, this complete dullness of the 


AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE PRINT in 


surface does not please the worker, because, especially 
with soft ink prints, it causes a marked loss of brilliancy. 
It is thus necessary to choose between a brilliant sur¬ 
face with unequally glossy places, or a uniform matt 
surface. I have undertaken experiments to place in the 
hands of the bromoil printer a means of imparting to 
his prints any desired degree of gloss, after removal of 
the unpleasant uneven shininess. Attempts to obtain 
brilliancy by the use of ordinary varnishes failed. 
Whether the varnish was sprayed on or the print was 
immersed, there was always a certain damage to the 
surface, since the ink film, which lies rather loosely in 
the form of powder on the defatted soft ink prints, com¬ 
bined irregularly with the varnish and caused some 
trouble. I was finally successful with the following plan, 
which is a logical consequence of the nature of the bro¬ 
moil print and the varnish inks used in making it. 

Dissolve from 5 to 10 ccm of linseed oil varnish in 
500 ccm of benzol (77 to 154 minims to 16 oz.). Then 
the defatted and perfectly flat print is completely im¬ 
mersed in this solution for one minute and hung up to 
dry. Perfect flatness of the print is necessary, other¬ 
wise troublesome markings are formed in drying, which, 
however, may be removed without difficulty by repeating 
the process. Irregularities may also be caused by sup¬ 
porting the print by the fingers on the back before hang¬ 
ing it up; the warmth of the fingers evaporates the sol¬ 
vent more quickly, so that spots are caused. The print 
should only be handled by the edges until it is dry. 

After the evaporation of the solvent, the linseed oil 
varnish dissolved therein is very evenly distributed 
throughout the whole film of ink; this restores to the 
ink a part of its varnish which was removed in the de- 


112 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


fatting, but more evenly distributed, so that now the 
whole print shows a gloss, which is hardly noticeable, 
but which considerably increases the brilliancy. If this 
gloss is not sufficient, more varnish should be added 
to the bath; if it is too strong, more of the solvent is 
added. In this way any degree of gloss desired can be 
obtained. If it is too strong, it can be removed again with 
benzol. When the bromoil print is to be retouched it 
should be defatted before retouching and afterward 
treated as just described, so that the varnish bath may 
also act on the retouched places. 

If no retouching is required, then the defatting can 
be effected in the varnish bath, which then effects a kind 
of equalization, since the shadows rich in varnish give 
up the medium, while the other parts of the picture 
take it up. 

By the use of weak varnish baths for after treatment 
of defatted bromoil prints, surfaces of velvety appear¬ 
ance may be obtained. 

Application of Ink to Dry Prints. — When the 
gelatine film has been swollen to the highest possible 
relief even the very soft inks take only with difficulty 
and in consequence frequently irregularly. Sometimes 
the formation of such places is unavoidable, especially 
when prints with very great contrasts have to be used. 
We are then forced to choose a relief which permits the 
inking of the darkest parts of the print. The warm 
water, or ammonia, bath requisite for this acts so 
strongly on the slightly tanned or untanned parts, that 
an excessive relief is obtained, and then the ink takes 
with difficulty or not at all. This most frequently hap¬ 
pens with skies which are very dense in the negative. 

Such parts of the print, resistant while it is wet, can, 


AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE PRINT 113 

however, be inked up without difficulty after the print 
has been allowed to dry. Then they are inked up with 
a brush, using an ink of the same tint and consistency 
as was used in making the bromoil print itself. The 
dry gelatine takes the ink quite evenly, and in this way 
any desired tone from the most delicate to the darkest 
may be obtained. By omitting to ink in suitable places, 
clouds may be imitated, and if necessary these may be 
worked up by retouching. 

With polychrome bromoils, when the skies are too 
swollen, one should carefully remove all areas of ink 
which project from the landscape into the sky, and this 
is also advisable in monochrome work. The best thing 
to use for this, especially with complicated outlines, is 
a water-color brush dipped in two per cent solution of 
ammonia, which easily removes the obtrusive ink from 
the gelatine. Larger areas should be carefully rubbed 
with a point of wet linen or with the finger tip wrapped 
in a wet cloth. In this way the highly swollen parts of 
the gelatine are completely freed from ink; then the 
print should be dried and the sky inked up as desired 
in the manner described above. 

The method of applying the ink to the dry film is 
valuable for obtaining other effects, as is more fully de¬ 
scribed in the next chapter, on bromoil transfer. 

In bromoil, photographic printing has been enriched 
by a process that can fulfil every wish of the photog¬ 
rapher who is striving for artistic results. It combines 
in itself all the advantages of previously known proc¬ 
esses, but surpasses them all in the possibility of gen¬ 
eral and local control, and especially in the fact that 
control can be effected at will at any desired step of the 
process from the beginning to the end, that it need not 


11 4 BROMOIL PRINTING 

extend over the whole print but may be limited to par¬ 
ticular parts, and that the results of the control are vis¬ 
ible immediately, during the work. Not the least im¬ 
portant, however, is the fact that the flexibility of the 
process enables one to immediately repair any error 
without impairment of the print. When it is further 
considered that the bromoil process is independent of the 
size of the negative, that it permits the operator to use 
any support, any structure, any grain and any color, we 
should be warranted in saying that the bromoil process 
is the process of the future for amateurs striving for 
artistic results. 


CHAPTER V 
TRANSFER METHODS 


S IMPLE TRANSFER.— Bromoil prints, which have 
been inked up but not defatted, can be effectively 
used as print-plates, from which pulls on any desired 
plain paper can be taken. The process of making such 
transfers is simple and certain and opens a whole series 
of new possibilities to the amateur. Briefly the method 
is as follows: 

The greasy ink on a finished bromoil print lies on a 
gelatine film. If the inked print is brought into con¬ 
tact with any uncoated paper and passed between two 
rolls under pressure, the ink transfers from the bromoil 
print to the paper. Obviously the picture thus produced 
is laterally reversed, which must be kept in view in 
preparing bromoil prints for transfer. Bromide enlarge¬ 
ments to be used for transfer should, therefore, be made 
reversed. 

The bromoil print can again be inked up after this 
process and again used for transfer; with bromide papers 
with resistant gelatine films this process may be re¬ 
peated many times. 

The advantages which bromoil transfer offers are as 
follows: in the first place we attain the end so often 
sought of being able to use any suitable paper for mak¬ 
ing photographic prints, which opens a new field for 
artistic endeavor. Obviously, also, any desirable oil¬ 
printing ink can be used, so that the whole gamut of 
colors is at the command of the operator. 

ns 


n6 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


The personal control of the tone values of the print, 
which attains its maximum development in bromoil 
printing, is equally possible in bromoil transfer. 

The picture is obtained on an uncoated paper and, 
therefore, the prints are of a character which hitherto 
could scarcely be obtained. 

The finished prints, if the paper is properly chosen, 
can be retouched as much as desired. 

From a single bromoil print a whole series of impres¬ 
sions can be obtained, which may either be all alike or 
quite different. They can be made heavy or light, in 
one or more colors, or even in polychrome, according 
to how the re-inking is done. 

The transfer process is also very cheap, as the papers 
used are naturally much cheaper than photographic 
printing papers. Moreover, one can make the pulls 
from small bromoil prints on larger sheets, so that the 
picture may be suitably surrounded with white margins. 

The following details should be observed in the prep¬ 
aration of bromoil transfers: 

The bromoil print designed to be used as a print- 
plate can be made on papers of the characters described 
in Chapter I, page 13. The bromide paper need not 
necessarily be free from structure, for with the pressure 
to which the sheet is subjected in the transfer, the effect 
of the structure is lost. The structure of the bromide 
paper may also be reduced by passing the bleached print 
through the rollers of the transfer machine under heavy 
pressure before inking. The bromide print or enlarge¬ 
ment must be kept very clean and free from fog , since 
the cleanness of the high lights plays a very important 
part in the transfer. The inking is done in the usual 
way; only one should use all possible means to obtain 


TRANSFER METHODS 


117 

the greatest possible cleanness of the high lights, and 
good modulation. After inking-up, any brush hairs and 
especially any little particles of ink that are not broken 
up must be removed, as the latter are especially trouble¬ 
some in the transfer. 

The process succeeds best when the bromoil print 
has as high a relief as possible. Such a relief facilitates 
and requires the use of inks of soft consistency; soft 
inks adhere to the gelatine film far less firmly than 
harder ones and, therefore, transfer very much more 
easily to the transfer paper. A simple experiment makes 
this fact very clear: if the tip of the finger is placed 
on a part of the bromoil print worked-up with hard 
ink, some of the ink sticks to the finger, but at the most 
there is formed on the print an impression of the tip of 
the finger, as the place touched still retains the greater 
part of its ink. If, however, the tip of the finger is 
placed on a part of the print worked up with soft ink, 
the latter will be almost entirely removed. This may 
serve to show why bromoil prints which have been en¬ 
tirely or chiefly worked up with hard ink cannot be 
entirely transferred to the transfer paper. The shadows 
especially, when covered with hard ink, are likely to 
appear much reticulated in consequence of the imperfect 
transfer of the ink. 

To obtain with certainty a faultless bromoil transfer, 
soft ink should therefore be used; the softening of the 
ink must naturally not exceed a certain limit, because 
otherwise the high lights will take the ink and a clean 
pull cannot be obtained. In order to be able to use a 
soft ink successfully, the relief of the bromoil print 
must as a rule be kept rather high; hence usually 
water baths of suitably high temperature should be 


n8 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


used. It may, however, happen, especially with con¬ 
trasty prints, that the gelatine in the high lights becomes 
too soft, and if it is not already damaged when taken 
from the warm water, it pulls off in inking-up or in the 
transfer. In order to avoid this, it is best to use the 
ammonia bath described on page 45. 

Bromoil prints which are to be used for transfer must, 
as already mentioned, always be kept very clean. This is 
necessary for the following reasons. In the transfer the 
ink on the high lights transfers completely in every case 
to the transfer paper, for the high lights are in the 
highest relief, and the ink adheres to them very lightly. 
On the other hand the ink is generally not completely 
removed from the shadows, as they have the lowest 
relief and, in consequence of their tanning, the ink ad¬ 
heres to them more tenaciously. Thus it happens that 
the transfer is usually somewhat shorter in gradation 
than the original bromoil. Allowance must be made 
for this, and the bromoil print should be made consider¬ 
ably more brilliant than the transfer ought to be, unless 
low-toned transfers are intentionally sought. 

In order to obtain clean, sharp edges the bromide 
print when dry should be cut to the desired size and a 
small tab of paper left at one corner, which is useful 
for hanging it up in the further processes, whereby any 
damage to the film of the picture itself is avoided. This 
little tab should be cut off just before inking. If a 
plate mark is desired, the print should be made with a 
suitable narrow white margin. 

The finished bromoil print can be immediately used 
for the transfer. If it is not used at once, it remains 
fit for transfer until the ink begins to harden. 

Any desired kind of paper may theoretically be used 


TRANSFER METHODS 


119 

for the transfer; but obviously, the success of the trans¬ 
fer greatly depends on the choice of the paper. The 
finest effects are obtained on matt and absorbent, but 
strong and well-made papers, the very best being papers 
intended for copper-plate printing. As the ink penetrates 
into the fiber of such papers to a certain extent, 
they give beautiful transfers with an absolutely matt 
surface. Absorbent papers also make it possible to 
transfer almost all of the ink from the bromoil. It is 
different with sized or highly calendered papers. With 
these, the ink only penetrates a very little way because of 
the film of size. The ink, therefore, lies chiefly on the 
surface of the transfer and appears glossy in the shad¬ 
ows; also, as it is not sufficiently absorbed by the trans¬ 
fer paper, the transfer of the ink from the bromoil to 
the paper is usually not complete. 

It is advisable, when using calendered paper, to re¬ 
move the gloss by preliminary dipping in water. Other 
kinds of paper also frequently give better transfers, if 
they are first moistened; this is most easily done by 
dipping them in water and then drying them between 
two blotters. 

Papers which are inclined to blister because of short 
fibers easily split in transfer, as parts of the surface 
of the paper adhere to the high lights of the print and 
tear away. 

Such papers may be made available for transfer, if 
they are coated with two per cent wheat starch paste 
and allowed to dry (Process of E. Guttmann). This is 
prepared by stirring up 2 g (60 gr.) of wheat starch 
in a little cold water, and adding to the mixture 100 ccm 
(3i oz.) of actually boiling water, stirring well and 
allowing to cool. 


120 


BR 0 M 0 IL PRINTING 


The blistering of weak papers must be differentiated 
from the sticking to the transfer paper of parts which 
are too much swollen; in this case the surface of the 
paper remains undamaged, but the gelatine film of the 
high lights is tom off and adheres to the transfer paper. 
As a rule, this only occurs with those parts that are swol¬ 
len too much, when too great pressure is used in the trans¬ 
fer. The preliminary sizing of the transfer paper with 
wheat starch prevents this also. Parts of the gelatine 
film which have high relief may also be protected from 
sticking to the transfer paper by a slight coat of varnish. 

The best machine to use is that described by E. 
Guttmann on page 153. It has proved satisfactory in 
every way, especially as it permits accurate and easy 
regulation of the pressure of the rolls. If such a press 
is not available, an ordinary burnisher can be used. The 
simultaneous movement of the rolls in burnishers is 
produced as a rule by two gear wheels. The inaccurate 
fitting of the gear teeth, however, causes periodic irreg¬ 
ularities in the pressure, which cause trouble in the 
transfer. In order to prevent this one of the gear wheels 
should be removed, so that the simultaneous movement 
of the rolls is produced by the pressure alone. A bur¬ 
nisher is useful for the preparation of transfers only 
if it is possible to obtain sufficient pressure on the rolls. 
On the other hand it is difficult to obtain with this ma¬ 
chine the necessary regulation of the pressure during 
the transfer, which is described in the following par¬ 
agraph. 

The following is the procedure in transferring. A 
blanket must first be interposed between the roils of 
the press. The best thing to use for this is two or four 
thin smooth cards, which may be covered at top and 


TRANSFER METHODS 


121 


underneath with two sheets of thin linoleum. The latter 
are not absolutely necessary. The print may now be 
introduced into the machine either by entirely removing 
the blankets, or by rolling them out far enough so that 
the middle sheets can be easily bent away from one 
another. The position of the transfer on the transfer 
paper should be marked with a pencil, and, if a plate 
mark is desired, a piece of cardboard cut to the proper 
size should be properly placed on the transfer paper, 
and the whole passed through the machine. The trans¬ 
fer paper, thus prepared, should be laid on a perfectly 
flat white blotter, and the bromoil print, which should 
be held very carefully by the extreme edges, should be 
lowered to the position on the transfer paper previously 
marked with the pencil. Any small ink marks thus 
caused can be easily worked out later. The back of 
the print should be dried with a white blotter and then 
a second sheet of the same size as the bottom one placed 
on it. The transfer paper with the print lying on it is 
thus placed between the two sheets of blotting paper, 
so that the water pressed out in the transfer may be 
readily absorbed. 

If attention is not paid to this precaution, it may 
easily happen that the transfer paper, as a result of 
partial moistening by means of water pressed out of the 
bromoil, may become wrinkled or distorted. Then the 
two blotters, with the transfer and the print between 
them, are placed between the two middle cards and the 
transfer begun. The principle of gradually increasing 
the pressure in this, which was introduced by E. Gutt- 
mann, has proved satisfactory in practice. One begins 
first with a light pressure, so that the transfer passes 
through the rolls with scarcely noticeable resistance. 


122 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


Then the pressure should be increased a little by tight¬ 
ening the upper wheel of the machine, and the work 
continued in this way until a certain, not very high 
pressure of the rolls is obtained, which one soon learns 
to estimate with a little experience. One can now, or at 
any later stage, take the transfer paper with the ad¬ 
hering print out of the press and, holding one part of 
the print firmly down on the transfer paper, with the 
hand or a straight edge, lift the free end carefully, in 
order to ascertain whether any and how much of the ink 
has been transferred from the print to the transfer paper. 

According to the result of this observation, the print 
is either entirely lifted off or the transfer continued with 
increasing pressure. In this way, with careful manage¬ 
ment of the work, one is absolutely certain of obtaining 
the best possible results in transferring. Still, my opin¬ 
ion differs from that of the inventor as to the reason for 
the satisfactory action of the gradual increase of the 
pressure. What happens is that in the initial passage 
under low pressure the print is immediately firmly at¬ 
tached to the transfer paper, so that its shifting on the 
transfer paper, which previously very frequently oc¬ 
curred, is avoided. When this adherence is once at¬ 
tained, we can proceed at once to that pressure of the 
rolls which is the most favorable for the transfer of the 
ink, if we are sure of it. This frequently happens when 
one has already made transfers from a print. With 
still unknown conditions, naturally the gradual increase 
of pressure is advisable. 

The print, removed after the completion of the trans¬ 
fer, can be again inked up immediately or later, and 
again transferred. Naturally it must first be immersed 
in water, so that it can again take up that which it has 


TRANSFER METHODS 


123 

lost in the transfer. In the new inking-up one can use 
as desired the same ink or another color, and also alter 
the print as seems best. If the bromoil print, which has 
been once used for transfer, is to be again used for the 
same purpose, it is well to completely remove any 
adherent traces of ink by going over it with a swab of 
cotton soaked in a solvent. It may then be dried and 
can be used again at any desired time. 

When transfers have been repeatedly made from a 
bromoil print, it may happen that the film blisters. This 
phenomenon is usually only noticeable when the print 
is again immersed in water after the transfer; as long 
as the blisters are not too numerous, they do not cause 
much trouble in the transfer. The answer to the ques¬ 
tion as to how often a bromoil print can be transferred 
depends on the resistance of the gelatine film. In prac¬ 
tice it has been observed that the number of possible 
transfers varies between five and twenty-five. 

The transfer process can also be used in bromoil print¬ 
ing as a method to free a print that has been too heavily 
inked from the excess of ink; such a print is passed 
through the machine together with any completely 
smooth paper which is free from folds, until it has given 
up its excess of ink to the paper, and it can then be 
soaked and inked up anew. 

The process of application of ink to the dry print, 
outlined in Chapter IV, can also be used to advantage 
in the transfer process. Any bare spots on the finished 
transfer can be inked up at will, by dabbing on ink of 
any tone value with the oil-printing brush; thus the 
sky, which may not be satisfactory, may before trans¬ 
fer be wiped quite clean on the print, the outlines of the 
landscape cleared up with a brush dipped in ammonia 


124 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


water if necessary, and the values of the sky put in on 
the finished transfer. This procedure is particularly ad¬ 
visable in polychrome transfers, with which a blue sky 
flecked with clouds can be easily obtained in this way. 

The subsequent application of ink to the finished 
transfer finally offers the possibility, by tinting the 
whole transfer with a very delicate coating of a suitably 
chosen ink, of imparting a different mood to the picture. 
Thus, for instance, one may give a transfer made on 
white paper a faint yellowish tint; it may be effective 
to surround the picture with a border of this tint, using 
a suitable mask to obtain sharp outlines; this yellowish 
tint is only visible in the high lights, as it does not 
show in the deep shadows. In similar fashion a darker 
tint surrounding the print may be put on with ink and 
brush. 

It is obvious that the transfer, especially when fresh 
from the press, can be easily and thoroughly retouched 
with rubber, water-color or charcoal; first of all those 
places should be treated from which the ink has been 
removed in consequence of the unavoidable touching of 
the print with the fingers, or to which the ink has not 
transferred for any reason. With transfers fresh from 
the press, any places that are too dark can be easily 
lightened with the rubber. 

The transfer very soon dries. Obviously it does not 
require defatting. The inks act better on the absorbent 
transfer paper than on the bromoil print itself, as they 
sink into the paper instead of remaining on the surface 
of a gelatine film. The final result no longer resembles 
a bromoil print, but has its own individual character and 
is a product which it is difficult to compare with the 
bromoil print as regards esthetic effect. The bromoil 


TRANSFER METHODS 125 

print has a certain charm which is lacking in the trans¬ 
fer and vice versa. In any case the transfer process is 
worth attention, since on the one hand it can be of 
practical value because of the possibility of the duplica¬ 
tion of bromoil prints, and on the other hand it enables 
one to use varieties of paper which were not hitherto 
available to the amateur. 

Combination Transfer. — In order to render pos¬ 
sible the reproduction of every possible tonal value of 
the negative, I have worked out the combination trans¬ 
fer process outlined in the following paragraphs. The 
essence of this process lies in the fact that two or more 
transfers can be made on one transfer sheet, which dif¬ 
fer so much in their quality that each of them repro¬ 
duces a different series of tone values, which then sup¬ 
plement one another on the transfer. 

This is attained either by executing the two superpos- 
able transfers with inks of different consistency, or by 
the use of two prints of different gradation to make 
one transfer. 

Combination Transfer with One Print-Plate.— 
The bromoil print used as the print-plate must be made 
on a sheet of bromide paper, which reproduces the tone 
values of the negative as closely as possible, without 
showing any hardness. The lights must be clean and 
all the half-tones present; it is, however, neither nec¬ 
essary nor desirable that the shadows should be too 
dense. In making the bromide print from a moderately 
difficult negative one should use the process, outlined on 
page 23, or developing slightly and then completing the 
development in a dish of water. Bromide prints of this 
kind are necessary because they satisfy the most rig¬ 
orous requirements in the high lights and half-tones, 


126 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


while the depth lacking in the shadows is produced by 
the repeated transfer. 

On the print thus prepared two bromoil prints, dif¬ 
fering entirely from each other in character, are made, 
one of which we will call the shadow print (Kraftdruck) 
and the other the high light print (Lasurdruck). This 
phraseology does not coincide, however, with the sim¬ 
ilarly named terms which are familiar in gum printing; 
the middle-tone print usual in gum-printing is wanting 
here and is also unnecessary, since each of the two par¬ 
tial prints contains a part of the middle tones, and, there¬ 
fore, when added together, they give a picture perfectly 
correct in tone. 

The shadow print is executed by inking up with a stiff 
ink, so adjusted to the relief that only the deep shadows 
and a part of the half-tones take the ink, while the deli¬ 
cate half-tones are lost and the highest lights remain 
absolutely uninked. Having suitably adjusted the ink 
to the relief, one should also use the corresponding brush 
technique, which was described as hard ink technique 
on page 87. The use of a hog’s hair brush is advisable. 
Perfect cleanness of the high lights, which is very im¬ 
portant, should be assured by the use of art gum. 
The shadows must show the full drawing, but ought not 
to be overinked. This shadow print should now be 
transferred to the transfer paper; when it leaves the 
press, the registration marks must be immediately ap¬ 
plied, so that the subsequent transfer may come exactly 
in the same place. It may be remarked, that the match¬ 
ing of the print to the transfer does not offer the slight¬ 
est difficulty in practice, and that the registration marks 
can often be omitted entirely, especially with prints 
which are inked right up to their edges, because bro- 


TRANSFER METHODS 


127 

moils, in making which rather thick paper is used, 
leave a fairly strong impression on the transfer paper, 
into which one can fit the print in the subsequent 
transfer. 

At the same time it is safe to use the following simple 
registration arrangement in every case. 

When the transfer is taken from the press, draw, by 
means of a rule, two parallel lines perpendicular to the 
side edges of the print, running over onto the transfer 
paper about one centimeter or one-half an inch apart. 
Also draw with the rule a line perpendicular to the upper 
surface of the print, also running over onto the transfer 
paper. In preparing for the next partial print, the side 
lines are first to be brought into exact coincidence and 
then the upper line. This insures exact coincidence for 
the subsequent prints. 

After transfer of the shadow print, the bromoil is 
again immersed in water, in which it must remain for 
some time, so that it again becomes saturated with water. 
Only then does it regain the same size as it had at first, 
for the expansion caused by the absorption of water is 
quite considerable. If the bromoil is not left long 
enough in the water before the second printing, it will 
be slightly smaller than in the first transfer and the 
combination print will not be sharp. 

High Light Print. — The inking up of the high 
light print is effected with soft ink, so as to produce a 
very thin and smooth film of ink; yet here too the high 
lights must be kept as clean as possible. Then this 
high light print is transferred by means of the above 
described registration arrangement, when as a rule the 
combination transfer is finished. 

It may happen that one has inked up one or other of 


128 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


the prints too lightly. In this case either the shadow 
or the high light print may be repeated, but the amount 
of ink applied for this supplementary impression must 
be very carefully judged, in order to avoid an overink¬ 
ing of the combination transfer. By the manner of ink¬ 
ing the constituent prints and judgment in the quantity 
of ink applied, the final result may be controlled through 
a wide range at will; one can, for instance, by em¬ 
phasizing the shadow print rather than the high light 
print, get more contrasty effects, or, by emphasizing the 
high light print, end with very soft effects. 

The order in which the two prints are transferred is 
immaterial. In any case, however, care must be taken 
that the transfer paper is well dried out after making 
the first transfer; for it always takes up some moisture 
in the press and then appears slightly wrinkled and 
distorted. If the second transfer is made on such a 
damp transfer paper, the result will obviously be com¬ 
plete or partial want of sharpness in the combination 
transfer. After the first transfer, therefore, the transfer 
paper should be hung up to dry spontaneously, not by 
heat, as otherwise it may alter in size. 

The process just outlined for combination transfer 
from a single print will in most cases perfectly reproduce 
the tone values of an ordinary negative. If negatives 
with a very long gradation have to be dealt with, then 
the following process may be used. 

Combination Transfer from Two Prints. — The 
underlying idea in using two prints is to overcome the 
impossibility of completely reproducing an extended 
scale of tones on bromide paper, by the use of two 
prints, which are so made that they divide the scale of 
tones in such a way that one end of the scale is repre- 


TRANSFER METHODS 


129 


sented by one print and the other end by the other. 

Therefore we make from the negative one hard print 
with well modulated shadows and only the darker half¬ 
tones. This is obtained by short exposure and suitable 
development. The high lights should show no deposit of 
silver. When master of the process, it is possible to in¬ 
clude more or less of the middle half-tones in this 
partial print which is intended for the shadow print, ac¬ 
cording to the final result desired, and this can be read¬ 
ily regulated by the length of the exposure. The fewer 
middle tones the shadow print contains, the more con¬ 
trasty will be the combination transfer. 

The second partial print is the high light print, and 
must, therefore, be kept as delicate and soft as possible, 
and include all the delicate middle tones up to the 
highest lights. The latter may even be very slightly 
veiled, yet only so far that after swelling absolutely 
pure whites can be obtained. No further demonstration 
is needed to prove that a combination of these two par¬ 
tial prints can include the whole scale of tone values 
of the longest-scaled negative; for the partial print des¬ 
tined for the high light print-plate gives every possible 
half-tone, while the other, intended for the shadow print, 
imparts full depth to the shadows without burying the 
details, and strengthens the half-tones, but does not 
affect the clearness of the high lights. 

The combination transfer is now prepared from these 
two prints, which are transferred in succession to the 
transfer paper, the order being immaterial. For this 
an accurate superposition of the two partial prints is 
absolutely essential. This must be accomplished by 
making the two prints of exactly the same size, with 
the images in exactly the same position on the paper. 


130 


BR 0 M 0 IL PRINTING 


This may be done by masking the negative with black 
lantern-slide strips gummed on the film for contact prints 
and on the glass for enlargements. The strips must be 
absolutely straight and the slightest curvature avoided 
in sticking them down. Two prints or enlargements, 
prepared from such a negative, can easily be registered. 
The desired end may also be obtained by printing or 
enlarging the two bromide prints under the same straight- 
edged mask. Care must be taken here that the image 
occupies exactly the same place in the mask for both 
prints. This is easily accomplished with various com¬ 
mercial printing machines. In enlarging, a mask made 
of stiff card can be hinged to the easel. The prints or 
enlargements thus made should be very carefully 
trimmed along the white margins and the difference in 
size ought not to exceed one-tenth of a millimeter (one 
two-hundred-fiftieth of an inch). Further, as different 
papers have different degrees of expansion, it is neces¬ 
sary to use the same kind of paper for the two partial 
prints, and it is best to take it from the same packet. 
It is also necessary to make both prints in the same 
direction of the paper fibers, for the expansion is dif¬ 
ferent with and across the run of the paper. 

One of the partial prints is transferred just as in the 
previous method. The registration marks are also made 
as was previously described, only the pencil marks must 
be placed exactly at the same points on the two partial 
prints, which can be done by exact measurement. With 
this process, also, the registration is not difficult in prac¬ 
tice and the careful worker will find that the impression 
in the transfer paper caused by the first partial print, 
supplemented by the two lines on the edges, is sufficient. 

The inking up of the two partial prints is effected 


TRANSFER METHODS 


131 

in the same way as was outlined for the process with 
one print-plate. 

Both variants of combination transfer offer operators 
with a little dexterity a wide range of possibilities. By 
suitable treatment of the partial prints the tone grada¬ 
tions can be controlled at will. The resultant transfer 
will be softer or harder, as the shadow or the high light 
print predominates; it is possible to omit certain por¬ 
tions in either of the prints or subsequently print in 
more deeply any parts which need special strengthen¬ 
ing; the two prints may also be executed in different 
shades of ink, with suitable discretion, and double tones 
thus obtained. It is also possible to print in clouds 
from a separate negative. Combination transfer is 
also well suited for polychrome transfers, since it renders 
possible the overlaying of a delicate black impression 
with different color tones. Again, since all the possibil¬ 
ities of control offered by the bromoil process are avail¬ 
able, an almost unlimited new field of activity is given 
by combination transfer. 

Finally, there is still another field in which the com¬ 
bination transfer allows remarkable effects. If one has 
a negative with excessive contrasts, as for instance, a 
dark arch with a vista of a sunny landscape, a satisfac¬ 
tory print can be made without difficulty by means of 
combination transfer. One partial print should be so 
made that it reproduces as correctly as possible the 
details of the dark part of the negative, in this case the 
arch, irrespective of the fact that the sunny landscape 
will be partly underexposed. Another partial print is 
then exposed for the sunny landscape, when naturally 
the details of the arch are completely lost. One may 
even go further still, since the two partial prints may be 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


132 

prepared from two negatives taken from the same stand¬ 
point, the one being exposed for the high lights and the 
other for the shadows. A combination transfer, cor¬ 
rectly executed from two such partial prints, gives a 
result in which both the darker and the lighter parts of 
the negative are reproduced in suitable tone values. It 
may also be mentioned that multiple transfer renders 
it possible to apply plenty of ink to calendered and, 
therefore, non-absorbent papers, and thus permits of the 
attainment of deep shadows, full of detail, on such 
papers. 

In the various kinds of multiple transfer here out¬ 
lined principles have been introduced into the transfer 
process which have been used in the gum-bichromate 
process and many graphic reproduction processes, in 
order to produce wide ranges of tone values by several 
printings on one print. Yet the means of attaining 
this end are novel, namely, either different consistency 
of inks with one print-plate, or the use of two different 
print-plates for one transfer. 

In my first publications on such combination trans¬ 
fer processes, I mentioned still a third possibility of ob¬ 
taining the desired end, namely the preparation of two 
partial transfers from one print by using two different 
degrees of relief. The process first outlined, using dif¬ 
ferent consistencies of ink with one print, is, however, to 
be preferred to the process in which two reliefs are used, 
wherefore the latter was not further proceeded with. 

The value of the transfer process has been so increased 
by the methods just outlined that it is capable of solving 
the most difficult photographic problem, and by its aid 
even negatives can be printed, which cannot be satisfac¬ 
torily rendered even in bromoil. While hitherto the 


TRANSFER METHODS 


133 


transfer process was only an offshoot of the bromoil 
process it is, since the introduction of combination trans¬ 
fer, at least as valuable and in many cases even sur¬ 
passes it. 


CHAPTER VT 
OIL vs. BROMOIL 


O IL Printing and Bromoil Printing. — Oil print¬ 
ing and bromoil printing are frequently considered 
as two different photographic processes. From this 
premise different conclusions have been drawn, thus for 
instance, that oil printing is more suitable for certain 
subjects and that bromoil printing is to be preferred for 
other purposes. There has also been discussion as to 
which of the two processes deserves the preference, which 
produces the finer artistic effects, and so on. 

All these discussions are, however, superfluous, for 
the assumptions on which they are based are erroneous. 
Oil printing and bromoil printing are actually not two 
essentially different techniques. In both cases there is 
one and the same process; oil and bromoil printing are 
basically identical. This can be proved both theoret¬ 
ically and practically. 

The theoretical considerations are as follows: in most 
photographic processes the chemical property of certain 
substances of being changed by action of light is used 
for the production of the final image. Such photochem¬ 
ical processes only play a preparatory role in oil and 
bromoil printing. The production of the final image 
is here based on a physical property of the gelatine, 
namely on its innate possibility of being tanned or 
hardened. In oil and bromoil printing an image is first 
formed in the gelatine photechemically. This image is, 
however, not the final one; it is merely a means to an 


134 


OIL VS. BROMOIL 


I 3 S 

end. Its actual purpose is the attainment of a suitable 
tanning of the gelatine. The photochemically produced 
image is therefore removed, but in such a way that 
simultaneously with the elimination of the image, the 
gelatine which carried it is proportionately tanned in 
the lights and shadows of the picture. Only by this 
tanning is the gelatine made ready for the production 
of the final picture. The purpose of these preliminary 
steps is the production of the tanned image in the gela¬ 
tine, which by itself is invisible or scarcely visible. 
After carrying out the preliminary processes the result is 
a pure gelatine film, which shows places of greater and 
lesser tanning corresponding to the photochemical image 
which has disappeared and which, therefore, has greater 
or lesser capacity for swelling in these places. If at 
this stage there are still chemicals in the film they are of 
no value for the further processes. 

If a gelatine film thus prepared is swollen in water, 
the untanned places suck up water, while the tanned 
parts do not take it up. Fatty inks, applied with suit¬ 
able brushes, are then repelled by those parts of the gel¬ 
atine which hold the water, while the tanned parts of 
the film freely take the greasy ink. The final image, 
therefore, is not formed until the inking-up of the film 
with greasy inks. 

This technique may, therefore, be most suitably char¬ 
acterized by the name “ inking-up process” The usual 
names oil print and bromoil print merely designate, al¬ 
though in terms which are terminologically unsatisfac¬ 
tory, two methods of preparing the base for the inking-up 
process. 

Oil and bromoil printing are, therefore, nothing more 
than the two methods which have hitherto been at our 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


136 

disposal for the production of a tanned image in gelatine. 

Both methods lead to the same result; only the bro- 
moii method is by far the more complete technically, 
as is shown in the following discussion. 

In oil printing, printing is effected direct on a bichro- 
mated gelatine film. The chromate image is only faintly 
visible and is not easy to judge. From its nature it has 
a very short scale of tones and, therefore, only gives 
satisfactory prints from soft harmonious negatives, while 
with more contrasty negatives it must inevitably fail; 
if with such negatives the high lights are correctly 
printed, the shadows have long lost all details; if the 
shadows are correctly exposed, the high lights are want¬ 
ing in detail. Control of the chromate image is only 
possible to a very moderate extent. This chromate 
image is washed out and leaves behind as a result the 
tanned image in the gelatine, in which all the disadvan¬ 
tages of the short scale of tones are inherent, and which 
besides this can be far less easily inked-up than a tanned 
image prepared by the bromoil method. 

The process of bromoil printing has been fully ex¬ 
plained in this book; a direct comparison of the two 
processes will be made very briefly. A correct print 
is prepared on a suitable bromide paper, either by con¬ 
tact or enlargement. Through the possibility of using 
direct enlargement, the enlarged negative, necessary in 
oil printing, is done away with. The bromoil image, 
in contradistinction to the chromate image is visible, 
and can be controlled in the most varied ways to attain 
the desired artistic effect. It has a much greater scale 
of tones than the chromate image; and this can in ad¬ 
dition be increased in the subsequent processes far be¬ 
yond the possible gradation of the bromide print. The 


OIL VS. BROMOIL 


137 


resulting bromide image is then removed by a bleaching 
solution containing bichromate, and in this way the 
tanned image is formed in the gelatine. 

Oil printing and bromoil printing, therefore, lead to 
the same result; but the tanned image, obtained by way 
of the bromoil print, is qualitatively of much greater 
value, for it has a much better gradation. 

The opinion is frequently expressed that it is a spe¬ 
cific property of the oil print to give pictures of a pecu¬ 
liarly artistic character. 

It is, however, absolutely erroneous to assume that 
the same effect cannot be obtained in a bromoil print. 
As already mentioned, the tanned images produced in 
the two methods are alike, but the bromoil print may 
have a far longer scale of tones. 

The rich gradation of the bromoil print is however 
not present from the beginning, but is only produced by 
allowing it to swell in water of suitable temperature. 
The warmer the water used, the longer is the scale of 
tones, naturally within definite limits. 

In bromoil printing it is therefore entirely at the 
choice of the operator whether he will or will not make 
use of the long scale of tones which the process can give. 

If cold water is used for the soaking, the gradation 
of the tanned image is much less than that of the oil 
print or the bromide image. By the choice of a suitable 
temperature of the water, the short gradation of the oil 
print with all its peculiarities can be exactly obtained. 
With higher temperatures the gradation may be finally 
increased far beyond that of the original bromide image. 

If one knows and has mastered the properties of the 
tanned image produced by the bromoil print, one may 
easily obtain the same effects as with oil printing; one 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


138 

can, on the other hand, obtain incomparably more than 
with the latter. No limitation is imposed on artistic 
aims by the imperfection of the tanned image. 

The following shows the practical comparison of the 
two methods: if we have before us prints with gelatine 
films which contain tanned images, of which one has 
been produced by the oil process, the other by bromoil, 
they behave absolutely alike in the inking-up, for the 
bromoil print receives, by soaking in cold water, a 
gradation which is just as short as that of the oil print. 
The two prints absolutely cannot be differentiated in 
practice, and are indistinguishable, if the paper, on which 
the gelatine film is supported, or the structure of the 
gelatine, does not give one a hint. 

In such cases it is impossible to determine from the 
finished print whether the picture was made by oil or 
bromoil printing. The portfolios of some of my friends 
furnish striking proof of this; the authors themselves 
can no longer recall by which of the two processes some 
of their earlier pictures were made. 

Nevertheless the opinion is often held that one can 
obtain pictures of much finer artistic quality by means 
of oil printing, because the prints thus made have a 
characteristic tonality and better treatment of masses. 
This opinion may be explained by the fact that oil 
printing has been used longer and is better known than 
bromoil, and that first class bromoil prints have not 
often been exhibited in public until recently. Espe¬ 
cially, it has not been widely known how manifold are 
the effects that can be produced by the different methods 
of working described in this book. 

There is also another explanation. Whoever has 
completely mastered any process and has kept in view 


OIL VS. BROMOIL 


139 


a definite artistic purpose, will as a rule find that the 
process will give him the results which he desires. It is 
now an indisputable fact that even such an imperfect 
process as oil printing has many times, because of this 
very imperfection, led to results which have been pro¬ 
claimed as artistic. If for instance, an oil print is made 
from a contrasty negative, the process cannot correctly 
reproduce the tone values of the negative. The short 
gradation sets a limit to the inking-up, before the tone 
values of the negative are fully developed. The result 
is then certain to be a gloomy print with heavy masses. 
Technically, however, this means nothing more than that 
the high lights are not clean and the shadows lack detail. 
This does not imply that the resultant picture may not 
have an artistic effect. The question is only whether 
this effect was actually tried for or whether necessity 
was not made a virtue and the imperfections of the 
process called an advantage. Without question, the 
worker who intentionally strives jor a given artistic 
effect can attain this easily and certainly by means of 
bromoil. If, however, he has no definite aim, but al¬ 
lows himself to be blindly driven on, as it were, by the 
idiosyncrasies of the process, it may happen that he will 
obtain quite another result. The greater gradation of 
the bromide print may induce him to keep on working 
on the picture until he finally obtains a print, which 
exactly corresponds in tone values with the gradation 
of his contrasty negative, which could not happen with 
the oil print. In such cases one often hears the opin¬ 
ion expressed that the special quality of the oil print 
cannot be attained in bromoil, and that a similar result 
could be obtained by any process, even printing-out 
paper. But the fault does not lie in the bromoil process, 


140 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


but in the fact that the worker has not mastered it, and 
has been carried beyond his aim by its greater possi¬ 
bilities. Oil printing is satisfactory when one desires a 
shorter gradation than is present in the negative; be¬ 
yond this, however, it fails. Bromoil printing, on the 
contrary, permits on the one hand the shortening of the 
tone gradations of the negative to any desired extent, on 
the other hand, however, the extension of the gradation 
beyond that of the negative. It offers, therefore, to the 
artistic aspirant a far greater liberty and in every re¬ 
spect a technically more perfect and therefore more 
effective instrument. By bromoil printing, therefore, 
one can prepare at will from a given negative, either a 
low-toned picture without detail, or one richly modeled 
and full of detail and vigor. Oil printing does not offer 
this alternative. 

If, in spite of all this, erroneous ideas as to assumed 
fundamental differences between oil and bromoil print¬ 
ing, and particularly as the special suitability of oil 
printing for certain effects are still disseminated, the 
reason usually lies in the fact that many who have pre¬ 
viously worked in oil have drawn erroneous general con¬ 
clusions from their first and naturally imperfect results 
in bromoil printing. They overlook the fact that even 
the worker experienced in oil printing must first learn 
bromoil printing and then practice it thoroughly in order 
to master it. The oil printer does not bring to it any¬ 
thing beyond a brush technique, which is not suf¬ 
ficient for every bromoil print. Everything else must be 
newly acquired; especially an actual mastery of the 
technique of bromide printing, which many lack, though 
they believe they possess it. Conservative thought 
easily overvalues its own possessions and is likely to 


OIL VS. BROMOIL 


141 

show itself somewhat antagonistic to new accomplish¬ 
ments which cost new efforts. The worker who spares 
no trouble to make himself a thorough master of bro- 
moil printing will be in possession of a technique which 
renders feasible, by its extraordinary many-sidedness and 
capacity of expression, the solution of the most difficult 
problems of artistic photography. 


CHAPTER VII 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 
By Eugen Guttmann 

T HE idea of transferring a bromoil print to an 
ordinary, uncoated paper was first introduced by 
the English and later further worked out by the French. 
The Germans turned to this new process comparatively 
late, but obtained fine results. Yet the practice of this 
beautiful form of artistic photography was limited to a 
small circle of adherents, and even today, when bromoil 
printing, thanks to the instruction of some excellent 
textbooks, has become known to almost all artistic 
workers, one cannot state that it enjoys wide popularity. 
This may well come from the fact that not everyone 
has the absolutely necessary printing machine, and that 
the substitutes for this machine, such as burnishers and 
washing mangles, cannot bring out all that lies in the 
process. In addition, when the process was first intro¬ 
duced, the transfers were never strong enough, and 
were mostly muddy and flat. This happened because, 
in the first years of the process, strong and vigorous 
shadows were not produced on the paper. The English 
and French improved this by pigmenting the shadows 
of the bromoil print much more strongly than was needed 
for this process. They stated that the chromated film 
took the ink very readily in the shadows, but parted 
with it again very unwillingly. Thence they concluded 
that, in order to be able to transfer much ink to the 


142 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


143 


paper, a surplus of ink must be imparted to the shad¬ 
ows; they thus corrected the tone values by deepening 
the shadows, and contended that they produced their 
beautiful transfers in this way. I have never seen an 
English transfer, but plenty of the French, which were 
said to have been prepared in this way. From my own 
experiments extending over a long period, I doubt 
whether the depth in the shadows could be attained in 
this way, and can only assume that very important par¬ 
ticulars have not been made known in the excellent pub¬ 
lications on this process. A simple reasoning, without 
any trial, also leads to the same conclusion. If, for 
instance, I overink the shadows by imparting to them 
more ink than the tone values require, then I smother 
all the details in them and in the transfer I shall obtain a 
black, absolutely detailless patch. The English and 
French contend, however, that all details, which are 
made invisible by overinking the bromoil print, become 
visible again in the transfer. They thus explain the 
matter approximately as if we were dealing with a 
carbon print, in which the whole film is “ reversed ” 
during the development. This is absurd. A moderate 
overinking will obviously give better shadows, but this 
limitation is of no advantage. 

For an important advance in the direction of the pro¬ 
duction of vigorous shadows in the transfer we are in¬ 
debted to the work of Hanns Benndorf, which was de¬ 
scribed in an article, “ The Technique of the Bromoil 
Transfer Process ” {Phot. Rundschau , 1914, Heft 9, 10). 
He used the method of printing in superposition common 
to all gum printers, since he first pigmented the orig¬ 
inal print in a normal manner but with weaker shadows, 
printed it and then inked up a second time, treating this 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


144 

time merely the shadow parts which were to be strength¬ 
ened, and then printed it on the first transfer. The 
results were actually very good. But the process still 
required considerable dexterity; its chief difficulties ap¬ 
pear to me to lie in the fact that in the second pigment- 
ing it is uncommonly difficult to so bring out the shadows 
that they do not appear too deep in the final print, and 
the middle tones and high lights are thus out of tone. 
The process is very suitable for bringing out individual 
parts of the shadows. 

On the other hand a considerable advance in the de¬ 
velopment of the process was made by Dr. Emil Mayer, 
and this consisted of giving to the bromide print, by ex¬ 
posure and development a particular character only 
suitable for this purpose. Fuller details of this are given 
under the heading “ Combination Transfer with one 
Print Plate,” page 125. 

In most publications on bromoil transfer, directions 
are finally given to pass the finished bromoil print quickly 
once through the machine with a heavy pressure of the 
rolls, and at the most twice. This advice has received 
my special attention, because I found that in this way 
good as well as bad transfers could be obtained; but I 
decidedly could not count on always obtaining equally 
good results. I noticed that things went well when I 
had a pressure on the rolls which was suitable for the 
bromoil print and the structure of the paper. Getting 
this correct pressure was pure luck. If the pressure was 
too great, then I indeed got all the ink on the paper, 
but the shadows were wanting in detail and flat; if on 
the other hand it was too weak, the shadows remained 
much too grey. 

Hence I came to the idea of so adjusting the rolls 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


i45 


that I printed at first with only a light pressure. I then 
had as a result a transfer which was absolutely white 
in the highest lights, yet showed all the gradations of 
the bromoil print in the high lights as well as in the 
finest and fine half-tones. The shadows, on the other 
hand, were grey and not filled up, for much of their 
ink still remained on the bromoil print. Then I again 
inked the same bromoil print and printed again as be¬ 
fore, but did not take the paper from the machine, ob¬ 
serving the transfer by carefully lifting the bromoil 
print. It was exactly as described above. Now I 
allowed the paper (the lower part of which was still 
held by the rollers, further details of which will be found 
in the section “ Printing ”) to again come into contact 
with the bromoil print, screwed down the central spindle 
to increase the pressure, and passed the pack again 
through the machine. The result was highly satisfac¬ 
tory. The highest and the high lights, as well as the 
half-tones, remained as they appeared at the first pull, 
but the shadows were fully filled up and completely 
transferred from the bromoil print to the paper. 

Thus I had discovered the principle of printing with 
increasing pressure of the rolls. Further experiments 
led me to improve the method, and the following in¬ 
structions give all necessary explanations and directions. 

I must remark that from the start I used a machine 
the arrangement of which permitted me to see the print 
during the printing, and with which the pressure on the 
rollers could be regulated at will. 

The transfer is not only a step toward the greater de¬ 
velopment of the bromoil print, it is so beautiful in its 
results that no other photographic process, with the 
exception of gum printing, at all approaches it. By the 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


146 

transfer process, photography has made its first entry 
into the ranks of the graphic arts. No positive process, 
other than bromoil transfer and gum printing, has over¬ 
come the oft-bewailed shortcoming of photography, that 
there is no sun in the picture, as well as these two proc¬ 
esses. It is even possible in them to use as the highest 
light the pure white of the paper. In this respect trans¬ 
fer still has the advantage of offering a more rapid if 
not an easier technique. 

Certainly the ordinary bromoil print also gives excel¬ 
lent results. Its whites are, however, formed by the pho¬ 
tographic film, and this is its only disadvantage. There 
is, however, always a difference of beauty between a bro¬ 
moil print and its transfer, the appreciation of which is 
purely subjective. We can accept it as certain that 
feeling in a picture printed in bromoil is attainable by 
simpler means than in the more difficult transfer. The 
photographic artist will decide for the one or the other 
according to the results desired. 

The Bromoil Print. — For every transfer there 
must be a bromoil print, complete in every part. That 
is an indispensable requirement for those who desire to 
practise transfer. 

That a perfect bromoil print can only be prepared 
from a perfect bromide print is generally known. It is 
not my province to describe both processes fully, for 
that was long since done by various writers in excellent 
works. But it is my duty to give some hints as to the 
way in which the bromoil print should be prepared in 
order to obtain the best possible results by my new 
printing technique, which will later be fully described. 

The transfer printer must always keep in view the 
fact that he must prepare the way for his final artistic 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


147 


results in all previous phases of the technical prepara¬ 
tion of his print. He will, for this reason, in a careful 
and well planned working up of the negative, bring out 
the characteristics and feeling of his ideal result by 
toning down or suppression of such parts of the picture 
as may be necessary, a task which has nothing in com¬ 
mon with the process generally called retouching. He 
will also make the bromide print, whether by contact or 
enlarging, with greater deliberation and care than is 
used in most cases. Too much reliance in this respect 
is often placed on the omnipotent technique of bromoil, 
which allows us to carry out the most far-reaching alter¬ 
ations on the print. This can certainly be done; but 
perhaps this way is even more difficult than taking every 
necessary precaution right from the start and producing 
it correctly — in one word: creating it. 

Far too little use, for example, is made in enlarging of 
bolting cloth, chiffon, or some such open-meshed fabric 
which, according to requirements, may be used with wide 
or narrow mesh, or even doubled, two pieces in contact 
[preferably with the threads at an angle of 45°.— 
Trans.]. Used with discretion, this gives valuable assist¬ 
ance in producing an artistic softening of contours and 
contrasts. The same purpose is attained in perhaps 
even greater perfection, by using the procedure rec¬ 
ommended by L. Vernouille of Vienna. In this method 
of enlarging two sheets of tissue paper , of the size of 
the enlargement, are laid upon the film side of the bro¬ 
mide paper, and the exposure is made through these 
two sheets. It is important that the time of exposure be 
exactly determined; this is about double that of the usual 
enlargement. The tissue paper must be perfectly white 
and free from imperfections, black specks and folds, etc. 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


148 

Besides these tricks a slight want of sharpness may 
be used to give the desired effect, or also the interposi¬ 
tion of ruled screens between the film and the negative. 

If it is desired that the bromoil transfer shall show a 
canvas effect similar to that of oil paintings, the simplest 
procedure is as follows. A piece of cloth is cut from a 
material which has the necessary structure, slightly 
larger than the size of the print, and laid flat on a stiff 
support such as pressboard. Then a new piece of car¬ 
bon paper, such as is used in typewriting, as thin and 
free from faults as possible, is cut to the same size, im¬ 
mersed in water, allowed to drain, and placed smoothly 
on the material; a second sheet of pressboard is then 
placed on top and the whole subjected to a strong pres¬ 
sure, say between the rollers of a burnishing machine 
or washing mangle; if one has not these, then in a 
copying press. The carbon paper shows when dry the 
perfect structure of the material. If this structure 
paper is now placed between the paper and the nega¬ 
tive, or in enlarging in contact with the paper, the bro¬ 
mide print shows this structure together with a very 
plastic rounded image, and a longer exposure is not 
necessary. I consider this procedure better than the 
use of the commercial structure screens, since one is free 
in the choice of the material from fine lawn to the 
coarsest canvas, while among the commercial articles 
there is seldom one which is quite satisfactory, and of 
course no such variety. 

The final size of the picture must be drawn on the 
bromide print in pencil before the bleaching, for the 
positions of the edges cannot be determined on the 
bleached-out print, especially when the bleaching is 
complete. After the bleaching and drying are finished, 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


149 


the pencil marks should be cut through with a sharp 
knife on a glass plate, and the print is thus given the 
desired size. From this point on, one should be most 
careful not to touch the print with the fingers, except 
on the back, which can be easily done with a little care, 
by always lifting up the edge with a knife. 

It is immaterial what bromide paper is used. It may 
have any surface, be thick or thin, though thick paper 
is to be preferred. For prints and transfers which should 
show the greatest possible fineness and modeling, it is 
better to choose a smooth bromide paper. 

The prepared print is swollen and pigmented as in 
making an ordinary bromoil print. It is not necessary, 
when planning to make a transfer, to produce a higher 
relief by a warm water or ammonia bath, which requires 
the use of softer inks and limits artistic freedom in 
working up. One’s whole attention must be focused on 
a single point: the shadows must be clean, the lights 
pure white. If this condition be neglected a good trans¬ 
fer cannot be expected. Deviations from this funda¬ 
mental requirement are only permissible for those who 
have absolutely mastered the printing technique, and 
who, therefore, can foresee the results with certainty. 

One must take into account the fact that the transfer 
process has a very marked tendency to lower the tones. 
The high lights and fine half-tones always appear some¬ 
what darker in the transfer than in the bromoil print, 
while the shadows, with correct printing, remain the same. 
It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to lighten up the 
high lights and the fine half-tones just as much as they 
lose in brilliancy in the transfer. Obviously no description 
is of any value on this point; a few experiments made 
for this purpose will quickly put one on the right track. 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


ISO 

The fact that the bromoil print is trimmed before be¬ 
ing placed on the pad has caused some nervous souls to 
be afraid that water may thus come from the support 
through the brush on to the film, but this is not likely 
to occur. The pad should be arranged by first laying 
on the glass plate a thoroughly wet copying sheet; on 
top of this a second sheet is laid, equally wet and with 
no air-bubbles between. The water is completely dried 
off the surface of the second sheet with the aid of a sheet 
of lintless blotting paper, and then one can work all 
day long even in summer in the greatest heat without 
changing the support; there will always be enough mois¬ 
ture to produce adhesion between the sheet and the sup¬ 
port, but one will never carry a drop of water on to the 
print with the brush. 

The Choice of the Paper. — The pigmented gela¬ 
tine film gives up its ink when it is brought into contact 
with paper under pressure; from which it seems that 
theoretically paper of any quality may be used for the 
transfer. In practice the matter is not quite so simple, 
for every paper surface possesses an individual character 
which definitely influences the ink transfer and the final 
result. 

Papers may be roughly classified as rough, medium 
and smooth, obviously with many intermediate grades, 
each of which may be divided into sized, half-sized and 
unsized sorts. Whether a rough, medium or smooth 
structure is to be chosen, must be decided from a purely 
artistic point of view, and in this decision the charac¬ 
ter of the subject and the effect desired are of equal 
importance. It is different, however, as regards sizing. 
The quality of the picture frequently depends on a 
correct decision on this point. This is at once clear when 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


151 

we consider that unsized paper is much more porous 
than half-sized or fully-sized paper, and thus can re¬ 
move the ink much faster and more completely from 
the bromoil print. If, for example, a bromoil is trans¬ 
ferred with a certain roll pressure on copper-plate paper, 
that is, on a very absorbent porous paper, the ink will be 
quickly transferred to it, whereas a sized paper, under 
the same conditions, that is, with the same pressure on 
the rolls, will take up only a small part of the ink. A 
comparison of the two transfers would then show that 
the shadows on the copper-plate paper are blocked up 
and have lost many details, while those on the sized 
paper appear much too light, which is readily under¬ 
stood, as the porous paper has taken up all the ink, the 
sized paper merely a portion of it. 

How far these properties of papers can be equalized 
or used will be dealt with in the section on “ Printing.” 

In choosing the paper destined for the transfer, there¬ 
fore, attention not only has to be paid to the structure, 
which must serve the artistic purpose, but one must be 
certain of the amount of sizing; this latter is necessary 
so that one may correctly carry out the actual printing 
process. 

As a basic principle the worker should use only pure 
rag paper and avoid all paper containg wood pulp . 
Although theoretically it cannot be disputed that any 
paper is suitable for transfer, it is also practically ac¬ 
cepted and undoubtedly correct that beautijul prints 
can only be prepared on good papers , and the artistic 
photographer should not be induced by any considera¬ 
tion to use other than the best materials. 

All the commercial drawing and water-color papers of 
all tints and structure, made by reliable firms, can be 


152 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


recommended. Extraordinarily fine results are obtained 
on copper-plate printing paper, which may be obtained 
in white and yellowish tints. Equally as good, and 
specially suitable for certain effects, are the Japanese 
and Chinese papers. 

The stock of paper should be kept in a dry place and 
free from dust. 

Printing should only be effected on dry paper. Damp 
paper is used when it is very coarse-grained and rough, 
as then the ink is more easily taken in the depressions. 
Such sheets are best dampened by immersing them for 
some minutes in water, allowing to drain and passing 
them through the machine between two sheets of cal¬ 
endered lintless blotting paper with strong pressure; 
they are then immediately ready for printing. 

If one has to deal with very absorbent papers, with 
which, especially in the pure whites, there is always 
danger that in spite of careful printing the gelatine film 
may adhere to the surface of the paper and thus spoil 
both bromoil print and transfer paper, the paper should 
be given a slight sizing. The preparations to be used for 
this should be those used by the gum printer: gelatine 
hardened with alum, chrome alum or formaldehyde. But 
these solutions must be applied warm and then the orig¬ 
inal brightness of the paper suffers. It is, therefore, 
more advantageous to use the cold preliminary coating 
recommended by von Hiibl to prevent the sinking-in 
of the platinum-iron solution for platinotype; 2 g 
(60 gr.) of rice or wheat starch or arrowroot should 
be rubbed up with a little water and added with con¬ 
stant stirring to 100 ccm (3 oz.) of boiling water. When 
quite cold the solution should be applied evenly to the 
paper with a swab. The application must result in a 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


i S3 

slight matt gloss on the paper without any damp places 
anywhere. When dry it is ready for use. The longer 
the paper is kept after this preliminary preparation, 
the better it is. 

The beginner will be well advised always to use one 
and the same quality of paper until he has succeeded 
in attaining full command of the printing technique; 
I have already pointed out that papers of different sur¬ 
faces take the ink from the bromoils with different de¬ 
grees of ease or difficulty. Similar differences also occur 
with increase of pressure. When the operator has once 
become perfectly familiar with the necessary adjustments 
of pressure with one sort of paper, he will be able with¬ 
out difficulty to estimate the degree of pressure for 
other papers. At the start it is advisable to use a good, 
half-sized moderately rough drawing or water-color 
paper. 

It may be remarked that transfers may be made on 
silk or other textile fabrics as well as on paper. If 
permanent results are desired, care must be taken that 
pure fabrics are chosen, that is, such as are not filled, 
as is usually the case with silk. As the fillers are usu¬ 
ally metallic salts, they may easily have a destructive 
chemical effect on the inks. 

The Machine. — In order to obtain a good transfer, 
a machine is required which must satisfy to the fullest 
extent two requirements: the pressure on the rolls must 
be capable of being regulated at will before and during 
the printing, and one must be in a position to examine 
the condition of the print at any time, without danger 
that the bromoil print and the transfer paper will shift. 
By pressure on the rolls is meant the distance between 
the two cylinder surfaces. 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


154 

The autographic metal hand press, model A, as sup¬ 
plied by the firm of Hugo Carmine, Vienna VII, at 
comparatively reasonable prices with different lengths 



of rolls, is almost an ideal machine for our purpose. It 
is shown in Fig. 1 and consists, as will be seen, of a 
massive metal stand, which may easily be screwed to any 
table. Through the center goes the lower roll or print- 









BROMOIL TRANSFER 


155 


ing cylinder, which is prepared of an elastic material, 
and this stands at the same height as the two tables 
seen on both sides. Above this lower, immovable roll, 
there is the upper one, which can be set higher or 
lower as required by the central spindle, in the center of 
which is the wheel. The central spindle is so arranged 
that the upper roll can be raised or lowered by screw 
gears at the right and left, the arrangement being such 
that absolutely even pressure is exerted at the two ends. 
On the right screw gear there is a notch in the form of 
an I, which with every half revolution of the central 
spindle moves the length of one tooth forwards or back¬ 
wards, according to the direction chosen, so that it is 
always possible to produce an absolutely determinable 
pressure. The rolls, after the setting of the pressure, 
are rotated by the handle visible on the right. 

This is the whole machine. Its dimensions are de¬ 
termined by the length of the rolls, and these are chosen 
as may be needed. One with 40 cm (16 in.) rolls ought 
to be sufficient for most work. 

It may be possible to rig up existing burnishers or 
washing mangles. Whether good results can be obtained 
therewith, I cannot say from my own experience. 

The care of the machine is very simple; it needs only 
to be oiled from time to time. 

Although this, or any other suitable machine, is so 
simple in construction, and its manipulation is so easy, 
yet one ought not to forget that he who uses it ought 
not to be a machine. The printer must be very familiar 
with his press, if it is to give its best. Whoever does not 
believe this should ask an etcher, who will soon tell him 
how much a good printer can add to a copper-plate print. 

Printing. — In order to obtain from any bromoil 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


156 

print one or more pulls on uncoated paper, one requires, 
besides a printing machine, also — experience. 

Before I proceed with the technical description of the 
whole process it will be as well that we become perfectly 
clear as to the conditions under which transfer takes place. 

Bromoil printing has been described as a direct deriv¬ 
ative of the collotype process, and it is. This very 
close relationship, however, is merely because of the com¬ 
mon property of the exposed and swollen chromated 
gelatine film, but does not extend to the method of ex¬ 
ecution, in which bromoil printing displays an independ¬ 
ent technique. The primary difference lies in the sup¬ 
port: collotype uses a glass plate as the support for the 
chromated image, bromoil printing uses paper. This 
causes a variation in the subsequent procedure, espe¬ 
cially when the bromoil print is not the final result, but 
merely the means for making the transfer. The appli¬ 
cation of the ink to the swollen gelatine also is quite 
different in collotype and bromoil printing, and the trans¬ 
fer of the ink to the paper by means of a machine is 
done differently, all of which are based on the differ¬ 
ences of the support. 

The bromide print, which is taken as the starting 
point in bromoil printing, should be made on a paper as 
dense in structure as possible; thick paper, therefore, 
is advisable, because the film remains damp longer dur¬ 
ing the work of pigmenting, and also because all subse¬ 
quent manipulations are carried out more easily with thick 
than with thin papers. In the collotype process, on the 
other hand, the chromated film is carried on glass. When 
it comes to printing, it is clear, from what has been said, 
that the bromoil print not only contains the moisture 
which is absolutely necessary in making it, but also 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


157 


that which is in the fibers of the paper. The whole of 
this dampness is pressed out of the paper fibers and the 
film, during the printing, and combines with the ink to 
a kind of emulsion. This emulsion-like mass is brought 
on to the paper by the machine, not the ink alone, as in 
collotype, the chromated film of which holds only that 
moisture which is requisite for its swelling, while its 
support, the glass, can retain no moisture. It is also 
the fact that the amount of moisture in the collotype 
film is so small that the formation of this emulsion prac¬ 
tically does not occur. From these comparisons and ex¬ 
planations it also follows that the printing technique of 
the two processes must differ. 

I have dealt with these facts with more completeness 
because it is commonly assumed that the printing of a 
bromoil print must be carried out like that of a collo¬ 
type print, and most of the failures result from ignorance 
of the differences discussed. 

So, while the collotype matrix only gives up its ink, 
the bromoil matrix gives up a mixture of ink and water 
to the paper. This emulsion is so constituted that it read¬ 
ily adheres to the paper where it is in the finest state of 
division, but where it is thicker it is more difficult to 
made it adhere. In other words: the high lights and 
the most delicate and medium half-tones readily trans¬ 
fer to the paper under light pressure, while darker half¬ 
tones and the shadows must receive a stronger pressure, 
from which it again follows, that in order to obtain 
from a bromoil print a transfer equally good in all its 
tones, I must print with gradually increasing pressure. 

That is the reason that induced me to use a machine, 
with roll pressure which can be varied at will, as I have 
described more fully in the chapter on “ The Machine.” 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


158 

The procedure in printing must now be very accurately 
described, and takes place as follows: 

The pressure which the rolls exert on the bromoil print 
and the paper as they pass through must be absolutely 
even, at every point. In order to make the pressure 
more uniform than the rolls of even a good machine can 
give alone, it is necessary to imbed the print and the 
paper in a press-pack. This press-pack generally con¬ 
sists of two pressboards (hard, thick, glazed pasteboard), 
at the bottom, an ordinary pasteboard, a copper-plate 
blanket, that is a thick felt, and another ordinary 
pasteboard. On this pasteboard the bromoil print 
is laid, and on this the printing paper. On this 
printing paper there are now placed in order another 
copper-plate blanket, an ordinary pasteboard and finally 
two pressboards. Before, however, we pass a press-pack, 
thus prepared, through the rolls, it must be explained 
in fuller detail, which is best done from an actual example. 

Let us assume that we have a print prepared as de¬ 
scribed in the chapter “ Bromoil Printing,” ready for 
transfer. Its size shall be 16 X 21 cm (6^ X 8J in.). 
Our intention is to print this on paper of the dimensions 
of 30 X 40 cm (12^ X 16^ in.), and to surround it with 
a plate mark. As the size of the paper is 30 X 40 cm 
(12J X 16^ in.), the four pressboards, the three ordi¬ 
nary pasteboards and the two copper-plate blankets 
should be cut exactly 32 X 42 cm. 

The two pressboards are accurately superposed 
on a table and then the pasteboard and the blanket are 
placed on top. On the last, as already stated, another 
pasteboard is placed, which must, however, be previously 
marked with pencil guide lines, for on it are to be laid 
the bromoil, the paper and the plate-mark pattern. As 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


159 


we wish to surround the print, which is 16 X 21 cm, 
with a plate-sunk mark, we must cut a sufficiently large 
pressboard to impress this mark. Let us say we wish 
to surround our vertical print with a margin which shall 
be 1 cm (| in. ) wide above and right and left, but 2 cm 
(J in.) below, then we must cut the pressboard 18 X 24 
cm (7J X 9^ in.). When we have done this we mark 
on it with a pencil exactly the position of the 16 X 21 
cm bromoil print. Now we find on the 32 X 42 cm 
pasteboard the position at which we wish to have the 
18 X 24 cm pressboard just cut (as a rule this will be a 
little above the center), and fasten it there very lightly 
with library paste or mucilage. The 18 X 24 cm press- 
board now lies on the 32 X 42 cm pasteboard. As the 
size of the paper is only 30 X 40 cm, this will leave a 
margin of 1 cm on all sides, and this future position of 
the paper should be accurately marked with the pencil 
on the pasteboard. Extreme care having been taken that 
all the lines are parallel and the measurements correct, 
we can now place in the press-pack the bromide print 
and the transfer paper, and proceed to print. 

The marking of the individual layers may be done 
very simply and accurately if it is carried out as shown 
in the accompanying diagram. This marking of the 
layers has also the advantage that we may use it for all 
sizes with slight alterations for individual cases. The 
lay-out is very easy. The pasteboard which carries the 
plate-mark pattern is cut accurately right-angled and 
must be about 2 cm (f in.) larger all around than the 
transfer paper that is to be used. On this board we now 
draw, exactly 2 cm below the upper edge, a sharp line 
with ink that will not smear, such as waterproof draw¬ 
ing ink, stopping exactly also 2 cm from each edge. Then 


i6o BROMOIL PRINTING 


A 



Fig. 2 

A = pasteboard 
B = the plate-mark pattern 
C = the location guides for the transfer paper 
D = the location guides for the bromoil print. 














BROMOIL TRANSFER 


161 


this line is bisected and the center point marked zero; 
right and left of this zero point we now draw equally 
distant upright lines, about \ cm (A in.) apart, which 
are numbered i, 2, 3 , . . . to the ends of the line. Like 
divisions are drawn on the plate-mark pattern, or if this 
is not to be used, at the place it should occupy. The 
bromoil and the transfer paper are now laid down with 
the help of these lines so that the upper corners are 
equidistant from the zero point, which can be very easily 
done. These location guides are also very convenient 
in combination printing. 

We now have lying in front of us one on top of each 
other: two pressboards, an ordinary pasteboard, the 
copper-plate blanket and the pasteboard with the plate- 
mark pattern and the marks for locating the paper. 

Now the bromoil print is lifted from its pad by pass¬ 
ing a knife under its edges, and laid carefully with its 
back on the worker’s left hand. Thus the print can 
be laid down face up without danger of damage on 
the plate-mark pattern, adjusting it by the position 
guide before sliding out the hand, all without touching 
the face of the print. Great care must be taken that the 
print lies absolutely flat. It will adhere to the paste¬ 
board without any aid except its own moisture. Now 
we take the printing paper, hold it at the upper third 
of its surface with the two hands and bring the upper 
edge to coincide with the pencil lines on the pasteboard 
which carries the plate-mark pattern, taking care that 
it does not touch this pasteboard. When the edge of 
the paper and the pencil lines coincide, the paper is care¬ 
fully allowed to drop into position from the top to the 
bottom. It now lies on the bromoil print; now, holding 
it very gently on the bromoil print with one hand, the 


i 62 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


previously prepared copper-plate blanket is spread out 
with the other hand over the paper and pasteboard, and 
the two pressboards are placed on the cloth in the same 
way. Care should be taken that the whole arrange¬ 
ment is fairly evenly made up, so that none of the edges 
of the boards or blankets project beyond others. If this 
precaution be omitted it may happen that the transfer 
paper is squeezed into wrinkles running from the edges 
to the middle, which may even encroach on the print 
itself. These squeezed-in wrinkles, which, if the pres¬ 
sure be great, may appear like sharp cracks, make the 
print useless. This whole manipulation is rather difficult 
to perform at first, but it is learnt very rapidly, espe¬ 
cially if the first experiments are made with a damp 
sheet of paper the size of the bromoil print instead of 
the print itself, and one thus becomes expert. 

When the press-pack has been made up in the above- 
described manner, it should be taken firmly in both 
hands, so that nothing can shift, and the upper edge 
placed on the machine table and guided between the 
rollers, the separation of which must be such that they 
just grip the pack without exerting any pressure. This 
separation must be determined by experiment. The 
pack should then be gently drawn through until about 
4 cm (ij in.) of its lower edge N remains protruding. 
Shifting is then no longer possible. The rolls should now 
be tightened, for which purpose the central spindle 
should be given six to eight half revolutions. The ex¬ 
act pressure cannot be prescribed, but it will always 
be better to begin with light pressure. The handle is 
again turned and the pack drawn through the press, 
until its upper edge sticks out about 4 cm (ij in.). 
This process is repeated four times — twice in each 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 163 

direction. If, after the fourth revolution, we carefully 
lift up the upper layers including the paper — obviously 
while the lower edge is still held fast for about 4 cm by 
the rolls — we can inspect the first impression and will 
see that the high lights and fine half-tones have already 
given up all their ink, while the deeper tones still look 
very flat. The paper should be allowed to drop back 
again gently, and then the other layers. Then the pres¬ 
sure is increased by giving the central spindle about 
three or four half-turns, as, after the first impression, 
there is little danger to either bromoil or transfer through 
heavier pressure, and the pack is again passed through 
the rolls, but only twice, once in each direction. If the 
print is now examined again it will be found that 
'the full half-tones and the lighter shadows are already 
transferred, but that the deep shadows do not appear 
.in full tones. Then the printing is repeated with still 
greater roll pressure, three or four more half-turns of 
the central spindle; again the pack should only go twice 
through the rolls. Another examination should now 
show the print in full vigor in all its details. If, how¬ 
ever, it should happen, especially when using rough 
papers, that the shadows do not yet appear quite deep 
enough, one should print again twice with increased pres¬ 
sure. All the ink which was on the bromoil print will 
now be transferred to the paper; if the printing 
was carried out properly the bromoil will look as if it 
had not been pigmented at all. 

It should never be forgotten that the rolls ought never 
to be so strongly screwed down that they can only be 
started by great effort; they must always move easily, 
and with little muscular effort. Repeated slow passage 
of the press-pack through moderately tightened rollers 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


164 

is always more advantageous than a single printing 
under very heavy pressure. 

Heavy pressure not only endangers the bromoil, since 
the gelatine film, especially in the lights, adheres to the 
paper and tears when removed, but the transfer also, 
because the water, pressed out quickly and with great 
force, is deposited in the ink in the form of fine globules. 
After evaporation, which takes place very quickly, these 
places show curious, light, circular or elliptical spots, 
which produce the general impression of a picture 
painted in the pointillist manner — an undesired effect 
which, however, may occasionally be satisfactory. 

It is very advisable to turn back the central spindle 
before finally taking the press-pack out of the machine, 
as otherwise one may uselessly and prematurely ruin 
the components of the press-pack. 

The bromoil can be immediately immersed in water 
and again pigmented — as was done at first, or with 
different ink. This process may be repeated until the 
paper breaks down, with careful treatment in printing 
and suitable stout bromide paper, up to twenty times. 

If the pressure of the rolls was too great, then the film 
shows blisters, which at first, and if they only appear 
here and there, are harmless, even when they occur on 
important parts of the print. If their number increases, 
however, it is better to make a new bromoil. 

If the bromoil is to be kept for future work, then it 
should be allowed to become bone dry, in order to dis¬ 
solve off any grease with benzol or other solvent, exactly 
as is done with a bromoil print in defatting. Prints thus 
treated can be used again after any lapse of time. 

This method of printing is proper for either mono¬ 
chrome or polychrome impressions. 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


165 

In conclusion the fact may be mentioned — first pub¬ 
lished in France, I believe — that bromoil prints, which 
in the course of making have been soaked in ammonia 
water, can be more easily transferred, and that there is 
less danger of the bromoil print and the paper sticking 
together, even with very strongly absorbent papers. 

Robert Demachy has stated that transfers can also 
be prepared by removing the ink, not by a press, but 
with a solvent, such as benzol, by moistening the paper 
with this solvent and then bringing it into contact with 
the pigmented bromoil. My experiments in this direction 
could not be brought to a conclusion, as at the time I 
undertook them a suitable solvent was not available. I 
had only succeeded in determining that it is very impor¬ 
tant that the bromoil print should be allowed to dry 
thoroughly—from six to eight hours — and that then 
a less volatile solvent than benzol, such as heavy benzine, 
or best of all, gasoline or petroleum ether, can be used. 
If the bromoil print is laid on a sheet of paper and 
moistened with this, then pressure in a printing frame 
is sufficient in order to obtain a transfer. A machine is 
not required. 

The pictures which I have obtained in this way have 
not been satisfactory, up to the present time; the 
cause of the failure obviously was that I lacked ex¬ 
perience as to the necessary degree of moistening and 
the duration of contact. As stated, for lack of mate¬ 
rials, I was obliged to discontinue experiments. 

Combination Transfer. — The process just de¬ 
scribed permits the transfer of all that was in the bro¬ 
mide print. If, however, it is a question of improving 
the inadequate gradation of a bromide print from a 
long-scale negative, we must use other means. Bromide 


i66 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


paper has only a limited scale of tones and therefore 
cannot reproduce the full modulation of a negative of 
full gradation. If the details in the shadows are to be 
retained in such a case, then the high lights will appear 
bare; if well-modeled high lights are desired, then we 
risk blocked-up shadows. 

This difficulty has been largely overcome by Dr. Emil 
Mayer, by the introduction of a combination printing 
process for bromoil transfer, of which full details will 
be found on page 125. He starts from the above-men¬ 
tioned fact that bromide paper does not reproduce the 
whole scale of tones of the negative, when this is too 
long, and therefore divides the tones of the negative 
into two parts by exposing one bromide print only for the 
shadows and the adjacent half-tones, and a second 
merely for the high lights and the lighter half-tones. 
He then transfers these two constituent prints in super¬ 
position and thus obtains the full gradation of the nega¬ 
tive. It is thus possible therefore to lengthen the scale 
of tones of the negative. If, however, it is merely de¬ 
sired to extend the scale of tones of the bromide print, 
then it is sufficient to make the combination transfer 
from one print only, which must, however, be prepared 
in a way differing slightly from the usual. 

I will not repeat here the theory of the two kinds of 
combination transfer, which may be found in an earlier 
chapter by Dr. Mayer (page 125), but in giving my 
own instructions for the practical performance of the 
process, I have essentially adhered also to Dr. Mayer’s 
instructions, with his full permission. 

Combination Printing from Two Bromoils. — It 
has frequently been pointed out in the literature of the 
gum process that the best positive transparencies may 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 167 

be obtained from a long-scale negative by making two 
positives from the one negative and then bringing these 
two positives into superposition; for this combination, 
one positive must be fully exposed and developed 
soft, the second, on the other hand, kept hard by a very 
short exposure and full development. If these two posi¬ 
tives are laid film to film, “ there is obtained,” as von 
Hiibl wrote as early as 1898, in applying this method 
to gum printing (see Eder, Das Pigmentverfahren, der 
Gummi-y Oel- und Bromoldrucky” Halle, 1917), “a 
result which often surpasses, in truth and fidelity to the 
original, a normal print from the negative. In such a 
combined print the high lights are derived from the 
short, the shadow details from the long-scale negative; 
the two images supplement each other and reciprocally 
increase the brilliancy. It is also possible to make good 
defects in the negative or the printing process.” 

This same principle is used in our process, although 
not exactly as in gum printing. The process itself is 
not difficult. It is necessary to make two perfectly 
registered bromide prints, which is most easily done by 
always placing the printing frame in the same position 
in filling, as for instance by fitting the same two sides 
into a rigid iron angle fastened on a drawing board, or, 
in enlarging, by using a right angled piece of strong, 
black card glued to the enlarging easel, and fitting the 
paper into this angle. I have prepared a simple and 
absolutely certain arrangement for securing registering 
prints by having a beveled-edge rectangle cut out of 
sheet iron 2 mm (7% in.) thick, the opening being some¬ 
what smaller than the bromide paper. Thus, for 
instance, for 24 X 30 cm (9J X 12 in.) paper, the cut¬ 
out is only 23 X 29 cm (9^ X nj in.). Care must he 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


168 

taken in this work, however, that the bromide paper 
for both prints is taken from the same packet, since only 
identical papers expand absolutely equally in the baths 
and contract equally in drying. Although the paper 
used by the manufacturer may be of the same quality, 
yet it may not always be handled exactly the same in 
coating, so that a registration of the prints may not be 
possible when one uses paper prepared at different times. 

The first print is now very fully exposed and devel¬ 
oped soft, just long enough so that the high lights and 
upper half-tones are well brought out. When this is at¬ 
tained, development is stopped without paying attention 
to the shadows, which will be full of detail, but weak. 

The second print is exposed as briefly as is required 
for the perfect reproduction of the shadows, with the 
use of a hard-working developer. As soon as the shad¬ 
ows appear in full depth, the print should be rinsed and 
fixed. The print then shows, besides the shadows, only 
the transition into the half-tones. It is not easy to give 
more accurate instructions for the preparation of the 
bromide prints, as the work must be carried out differ¬ 
ently according to the negative. Only, as a hint, and 
nothing more, it may be stated that in a print where ex¬ 
posure of about twelve seconds was required for the 
complete printing of the high lights and half-tones, the 
shadow print needed only about three seconds, or about 
one-fourth the exposure. This ratio obviously alters in 
accordance with the depth and quality of the shadows 
in the negative, and must be left to the feeling and expe¬ 
rience of the worker. When the two prints have been 
developed, fixed, washed and dried, they should be 
tested for equality of size by measurement with a milli¬ 
meter scale. Then rule pencil lines around the edges 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


169 

of the prints very exactly, and treat them in the usual 
way in the bleaching bath, the second fixing and wash¬ 
ing. When thoroughly dry the pictures should be cut 
along the pencil lines with absolute accuracy, and their 
registration again tested. It is advisable to write on 
the back before bleaching “ high light print ” and 
“ shadow print.” 

Pigmenting is effected as usual. Practically, one 
should always begin with the high light print , as this 
is intended to give the finest modeling in the high lights 
and half-tones, while the shadows are treated so that 
they show all the details, but no depth. This order of 
working leaves one absolutely free in the treatment of 
the fine tones, independent of the depth of the shadows. 
These depths are produced in the transfer in any de¬ 
sired strength by means of the second bromoil. If, 
however, the work is started in the reverse way, by 
printing the shadows first, then the half-tones and high 
lights must be adjusted to the existing depth, which 
may produce a dislocation of the tone values, even to a 
destruction of the whole desired effect. The best way 
is therefore to direct the whole attention in the first 
place to the lighter parts of the picture, and to suit the 
shadows to these. 

When the high light print is completed as desired, the 
transfer may be made. The bromoil print is placed on 
the location guides, described in the previous chapter 
on “ Printing.” Then the transfer paper is placed on 
its guide and pencil lines very carefully drawn across 
the edges of the back, on to the pasteboard. Then it is 
printed. The picture will now appear in full beauty as 
regards the lighter tones, but obviously as a whole will 
be flat, since the shadows are grey and without depth. 


170 


BR0M0IL PRINTING 


Now we proceed to the working up of the shadow 
print, which when complete should appear absolutely 
bare of high lights and light half-tones. No protective 
measures to prevent the sticking of the non-pigmented 
parts to the transfer paper are necessary, as these white 
portions of the shadow print are already covered from 
the first transfer. The print is now placed exactly 
on the marks made on the plate-mark pattern before 
the first transfer, the first transfer also brought into 
the same position by the marks on its back and their 
prolongations, which is very simple in practice, and is 
then printed. The transfer now shows the full gradation 
of the negative, or the sum of the gradations of the two 
bromide prints, which, however, will be enhanced in 
effect by the plastic softness produced by the double 
printing. If it should be necessary to strengthen any 
part of the print, to deepen any shadow, we can again 
pigment the necessary portion of the proper bromoil 
and transfer it to the picture by a third printing, for it 
is thoroughly practicable to superimpose as many im¬ 
pressions as may appear necessary from an artistic 
standpoint. 

This method of combination printing from two bro- 
moils is the best attainable result in the present state 
of the art, but contains also the germ of future devel¬ 
opments, especially as regards color photography, which 
problem appears to me to be most easily solvable in 
this, purely artistic, way. Only it is necessary to find 
an artist who can conduct the various printings with 
such fine color sense that the final result will actually 
produce the impression of a work of art in color, not that 
of a colored photograph, which has unfortunately 
hitherto been the case with all experiments in this di- 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


171 

rection. This is obviously nothing more than a hope for 
the future. For the present we must content ourselves 
with what has actually been attained, which is no more 
and no less than to bring us close to our aim, ability to 
consider and use the photographic plate merely as a 
foundation for our graphic art. 

Combination Printing with One Bromoil. — It is 
frequently not easy to reproduce perfectly in the trans¬ 
fer the whole scale of tones present in a given bromide 
print; or at least in many cases a high degree of skill 
must be employed. It is consequently often very much 
simpler to make two transfers from the same bromoil, 
one being inked up for the light parts, while the other 
is used to fill out and deepen the shadows. 

The practical execution of the process is as follows: 
the bromide print is swollen in the normal way and pig¬ 
mented with a soft ink suitable for the high lights, 
the shadows being very lightly inked. The transfer ob¬ 
tained from this bromoil print shows all the details in 
the high lights, with grey shadows. The print is now 
immersed in cold water to swell again and then inked 
up with a hard ink, so that only the shadows and the 
adjacent half-tones are fully worked up. This print 
is now transferred to the same paper, so that a transfer 
is obtained in which the scale of tones of the bromide 
print is considerably lengthened. 

A second method of making two transfers from one 
bromoil is first to swell it normally, then ink up thor¬ 
oughly and transfer. It is then highly swollen with 
ammonia and the shadows only treated with hard ink. 
The result of the second transfer on the first one is 
again full gradation in the print. This method, how¬ 
ever, is not very advisable, as the print cannot be used 


172 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


again if the second transfer is not successful. It is better 
to adhere to the first method, and preferable to use two 
inks of different consistency rather than two differing 
degrees of relief. 

If, however, the combination transfer from a single 
bromoil is to give the best possible gradation, the expo¬ 
sure and development of the bromide print must be 
properly done, the process being essentially that of 
Benndorf, referred to on page 143. 

The bromide print must be fully exposed and developed 
very soft; the image then seems flat, and yet every 
gradation of tone present in the negative is actually 
shown in the bromide print. If a print thus prepared 
is treated with inks of two consistencies, the best results 
are obtained. 

The Value of Combination Printing. — With the 
aid of combination transfer it is possible to solve prob¬ 
lems in the bromoil printing process, which were hitherto 
unsolvable, and Dr. Mayer correctly remarks at the end 
of his treatise: “ The transfer process has advanced to 
the first place and in future in the hands of the expert, 
bromoil printing is likely to be considered as a process 
of secondary importance.” 

I was early convinced that transfer would replace 
bromoil printing and am absolutely of the opinion that 
combination transfer will do its share in making my 
opinion universal. Still I do not believe that it is nec¬ 
essary to use combination printing in all cases. I would 
especially warn the beginner against using it exclusively; 
he should rather endeavor to make simple transfers 
starting from a perfect bromide and a perfect bromoil 
print, for by this means he will attain much more cer¬ 
tainty in printing technique. Only when he has abso- 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


173 

lutely mastered this technique, should he begin experi¬ 
ments in combination transfer from one bromoil. 

Every worker should endeavor to use the technique 
of combination transfer for the execution of an artistic 
idea , rather than for overcoming technical difficulties in 
single transfer. 

Then it will, however, always give excellent results. 
Aside from the solution of such problems as views from 
a dark space into a brilliantly lighted distance, or pic¬ 
tures of falling water in conjunction with its dark sur¬ 
roundings, etc., it will be especially useful to the por¬ 
traitist in treating his backgrounds. 

Combination transfer from two originals will, however, 
be most valuable artistically, when there is a question 
of combining sharply defined parts of a picture with 
softer parts. Thus, for instance in a landscape, we may 
make a sharp print and, by the use of bolting cloth, 
one with soft outlines; the parts which it is desired to 
emphasize will be worked up on the former and artistic 
softening added from the latter. 

Briefly, the possibilities are so many that they 
can hardly be indicated, not to speak of describing them 
in full. This is, besides, hardly necessary, for the 
worker who has reached full mastery of combination 
transfer is necessarily so far advanced artistically, that 
he will find out for himself all that is necessary. 

Retouching and Working Up. — A good bromide 
print can only be prepared from a good negative. So 
says the expert bromide printer. The bromoil printer 
requires a faultless bromide print as the fundamental 
condition. The transferrer, finally, will not use an im¬ 
perfect bromoil print for transfer. 

X belong to the school which would produce a photo- 


174 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


graphic picture only by purely photographic means, 
without, however, being too orthodox; I would not, 
therefore, repeat the whole laborious making of a bro- 
moil print, because I might not think it photographic 
to spot out with water-color a small spot the size of a 
pin’s head, or to remove a small particle of ink with the 
etching knife. This is actually not retouching, but there 
are people who consider these changes as such. 

By retouching I mean the justly condemned exces¬ 
sive “ working up ” of a positive print, that is a change 
of values on the finished print. That should not be done. 

Bromoil printing is still that exquisite process which 
permits the correction of false tones, the suppression of 
undesirable and the emphasis of the most characteristic 
details in the most extensive way during the work. 

I consider it objectionable to leave all faults which oc¬ 
cur during the long process of picture making, for the sake 
of convenience, to be improved on the positive print. 
But if it does become necessary to use retouching on the 
transfer, it can be done with a soft eraser. An excellent 
means of working up larger areas has been described 
by Dr. Mayer (see page 123), which consists in work¬ 
ing on the transfer with the same brush and the same 
ink as was used in making the bromoil. Thus clouds 
may be imitated by pigmenting the white surface and 
then working in the clouds with the eraser, etc. 

Since, however, this and other improvements can be 
carried out, not only as well, but even better on the 
bromoil print itself, it is advisable to do so much with 
the brush that nothing remains to be done on the transfer. 

Drying. — As soon as the transfer leaves the press, 
it is finished, but as the ink is very easily smeared it is 
advisable to leave it exposed to the air for two or three 


BROMOIL TRANSFER 


175 

days. After the lapse of this time the ink has usually 
hardened. 

Very heavily inked prints require from eight to ten 
days to dry and may be considered as absolutely dry 
when the oily sheen which can be seen immediately after 
printing, especially in the shadows saturated with ink, 
is replaced by a velvety, perfectly matt surface. 

Retouching can be begun about one or two hours after 
it has left the machine. 

A transfer should not be mounted, for it looks best 
as it is, if the margin is sufficiently large. 

Conclusion. — The technical difficulties of making 
a good transfer are not small, and to overcome them 
requires a certain degree of skill in the worker, which 
other processes do not require to an equal degree. By 
“ workers ” I mean especially amateurs, not those pro¬ 
fessionally skilled in the graphic arts. After overcom¬ 
ing these difficulties, caused chiefly by the materials, 
there is a certain feeling of satisfaction in having actu¬ 
ally produced a work of art. By using the different 
techniques of bromoil printing: soft ink, hard ink, 
sketch, and coarse grain, one can obtain transfers of 
such beauty as may confidently be said can be attained 
by no other process. There is unlimited possibility of 
variation; and this alone assures the bromoil transfer 
process preeminence over any other method of printing. 

That a transfer can be used as a basis for working up 
with pastel and water-color need only be incidentally 
mentioned, because such work is outside of pure photog¬ 
raphy and it is unnecessary to express an opinion as to 
the artistic value of such productions in this place. The 
photographer should always adhere to the fundamental 
law: Do not forsake photographic methods. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 
By Eugen Guttmann 

E VERYONE who devotes himself to the higher aims 
of photography, and studies the works of painters, 
must learn to see with the artist’s eye if he will apply 
his knowledge in pictorial presentation of his subjects. 
In the same way the bromoil printer should become more 
familiar with the working tools of the painter, and espe¬ 
cially with the most valuable material at his command, 
the ink, than has hitherto been the case. 

When we look back on the history of painting, we 
note the often-mentioned fact that not only the old 
masters of all schools, Italian, German and Dutch, but 
also the later generations till about the middle of the 
last century, ground their own colors. They did this 
not merely to be assured of the most perfect purity and 
thus absolute permanency, but also because they wanted 
to obtain the greatest possible brilliancy. 

As regards the purity of the materials used — the col¬ 
ors and the mediums — there is no doubt that to-day, 
thanks to the high perfection of manufacturing methods, 
this can usually be depended upon; but as regards the 
brilliancy, no positive instructions of any kind for ob¬ 
taining this have come down to us. The painters took 
their secrets with them to the grave. But as the result 
of exhaustive research, together with advances in the 
manufacture of colors, we can assume with some cer- 
176 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 177 

tainty that the masters of past times attained vigor in 
their colors chiefly by the finest possible grinding of the 
colors and by a relatively small addition of medium. “ It 
may sound paradoxical ” says Professor Th. Petruscheff- 
sky in one of his treatises on the technique of painting, 
“ but it is, however, true, that in oil painting oil should 
be avoided as much as possible ” 

The old masters knew this and acted accordingly, 
and the modern manufacturer also knows it, and replaces 
any excessive quantity of oil in the medium, which is 
mixed with the pigments to bring them into a paintable 
form, by other substances, for instance turpentine, and 
certain resin solutions, which have no binding properties; 
during the work these substances evaporate and leave 
behind the color with very little medium. 

These facts the bromoil printer must know, for he 
should also use colors from which he can get the very 
best possible results. 

The ink is one of the most important parts of his 
equipment. This fact was fully recognized by English, 
French, and German manufacturers, and inks were ob¬ 
tainable that left nothing to be desired. At the out¬ 
break of the war the position of affairs was immediately 
altered. It was not possible to use English and French 
sources of supply and the German supply gradually 
failed. What was furnished as ink for the oil process 
was suitable for anything else but that — a soft, smeary 
and smearing mess, which did not permit any finer work¬ 
ing up of the picture, and required so high a relief that 
individuality in the work was excluded. 

These conditions induced me to try and prepare the 
necessary inks myself, and after many trials and ex¬ 
haustive experimental study of the manufacture of artist 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


178 

oil colors I finally succeeded in reaching my goal. 

Inks and Brushes. — My starting point was a 
great desire to make a hard ink, since I recognized that 
this consistency was the necessary starting point to be 
able to use any degree of relief. I further desired to 
attain a mixture of color and medium which should be 
as perfectly homogeneous and as fine as possible, and 
moreover to provide a palette, which should not only 
satisfy all requirements of the bromoil printer, but also 
give him only fast colors, perfectly suitable for the trans¬ 
fer process and soluble in benzol. 

Command of a hard ink — which can he suitably soft¬ 
ened to meet any need — is very necessary to the bro¬ 
moil printer, if clean shadows are to be obtained. As 
already mentioned, it has long been known among 
painters that the colors appear purer and more luminous 
when they contain as little medium as possible. In order 
to be able to apply such stiffly ground colors, the painters 
use bristle brushes, which do not produce the same 
results as hair brushes. Naturally there is nothing to 
prevent the bromoil printer from using bristle brushes , 
only they must fulfil certain requirements. The litera¬ 
ture of bromoil printing gives many hints on this point, 
but I have not been able to locate a practical use of 
these brushes. Some years ago I had made, by a manu¬ 
facturer who makes excellent hair brushes for our proc¬ 
ess, bristle brushes in stag’s foot shape. The result was 
extraordinarily gratifying. These brushes do not drop 
their bristles nor do they suffer from the troublesome 
breaking off of the points, they do not pick up the dust 
and do not smear even when very soft inks are used, be¬ 
cause the bristles, unlike hairs, do not cling together. 
They can be easily and thoroughly cleaned and are ob- 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 179 

viously very lasting, and in addition cost only a fraction 
of what must be paid for really good hair brushes. 

As regards the size one is not limited, as with the 
hair brushes, to small sizes, since the hog’s bristle 
brushes can be made of any desired diameter, even 10, 
15 or 20 cm or more (4, 6 or 8 inches or more) so that 
the working up of large prints is considerably facilitated. 

Two conditions must, however, be carefully observed 
for good results. First, these brushes must actually be 
made from the very finest cut bristles and, before they 
are used, they must be repeatedly and very thoroughly 
cleaned , because they are very dirty when purchased. 

The principal advantage of these brushes is that they 
enable one to use considerably harder inks than is pos¬ 
sible with hair brushes, which results in much greater 
clearness of the shadows. When this clearness of the 
shadows is obtained, one can always use a hair brush 
for working up the finer half-tones and high lights. This 
is, however, not necessary, at least in the majority of 
cases. 

I have not noticed any disadvantage in the use of 
these brushes; the gelatine has never been pierced, even 
in the highest reliefs. 

Although I am averse to anything that may smack of 
advertising, yet I will state here the source of these 
brushes, because the expert manufacture of these tools, 
so important in our handicraft, is not found everywhere 
in equal perfection, and because I believe that it will be 
of considerable service to those wanting brushes. The 
brush manufacturer is Magnus Buhler, Wien VII, 
Breitegasse 4, Austria. 

I might add a word here as to the cleaning of brushes 
in general, whether hair or bristle. It is usually recom- 


180 BROMOIL PRINTING 

mended to wash out the ink with benzol or similar 
solvent, carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, etc. A 
really thorough washing is never obtained with these; 
and the brushes almost always give up a greater or lesser 
quantity of small particles of ink to the new print when 
used again. The following process is much better. The 



Fig. 3 


brush to be cleaned should be dipped into lukewarm 
water and then rubbed firmly on a piece of ordinary 
soap (soft soap is better), so that it takes up as much 
soap as possible. Then the soap should be worked up 
into a lather on the palm of the hand and washed off. 
If this is repeated a second time and the brush is then 





PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 181 


rinsed two or three times in lukewarm water, repeatedly- 
changed, the brush will be far cleaner than can be ob¬ 
tained in any other way. After it has been well rinsed 
and shaken out it should be put into its tube and hung 
up by the handle in a place free from dust to dry (see 
Fig. 3). This vertical position has the effect of facili¬ 
tating the draining of the moisture from the quill base, 
where it otherwise collects. Any brush thus treated 
will be dry in a few hours. The finest hair brushes are 
not damaged at all by this treatment, which is commonly 
used by painters. 

The Preparation of the Bromoil Inks. — The 
preparation of the bromoil inks is very simple. The fol¬ 
lowing are necessary: 

Linseed oil varnish of the thickest consistency; 

Powder colors; 

A rubbing plate; 

A pestle; 

A springy spatula (palette knife); 

A stiff spatula, the so-called ink knife (putty knife). 

The following sections will give the necessary infor¬ 
mation as to the properties and nature of each item in 
this small arsenal. 

The Varnish. — Only such varnish should be used 
as is prepared from linseed oil and chemically pure. Its 
color should be light to brownish-yellow or at most red¬ 
dish-brown. Dark brown or blackish-brown varnish 
points to adulteration. The smell is that of linseed oil 
and is not exactly pleasant, but it should not smell badly. 
In the latter case one may reckon with certainty on the 
addition of fish or resinous oil. One principal requisite 
of this varnish is that it should be absolutely clear . 
The varnish is produced of various consistency, from 


182 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


quite fluid to quite viscous, and this is one of the prin¬ 
cipal properties, to which the bromoil printer must pay 
special attention, for every degree of consistency de¬ 
mands and must have only one definite quantity of 
color, otherwise the resultant ink will not satisfy the de¬ 
sired end. More as to this later. 

I used for all my experiments and later for all actual 
mixing the linseed oil varnishes, No. i and No. 2 (chem¬ 
ically pure) of the firm of Kast & Ehinger, of Stuttgart, 
which have always given me excellent results, without 
failures. Excellent also is the somewhat less stiff “ col¬ 
lotype varnish.” But any other varnish, if it only has 
the right consistency and is not adulterated, must also 
give good inks, though great care must also be taken 
as to clearness and color. 

Warning should be made against oils similar to var¬ 
nish, which can be recognized by a cloudy appearance 
and a very unpleasant rancid odor. They harden very 
quickly and thus become useless and are very costly. 

The stiff varnish is very viscous, like thick syrup. 
In the cold it thickens with the formation of a thin skin 
on the surface. On a hot water bath, it again obtains 
its original character. Well corked up, good varnish will 
keep for years; it even becomes better by long storage. 
It is most convenient to fill the varnish into small wide¬ 
mouthed bottles, holding from 20 to 40 g (about an 
ounce), with ground-in stoppers, as one can note its ap¬ 
pearance at any time through the glass. In taking the 
varnish out of the bottle, care must be taken that none 
gets on the inside of the neck, or else the bottle can only 
be opened with difficulty through the varnish gumming 
it up. 

Powder Colors. — Only such colors should be used 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 183 

as are fast both to light and air. The following may be 
selected with absolute certainty: 

For black: bone black, ivory black, crayon sauce; 

For brown: burnt umber, burnt sienna, burnt dark 
ochre; 

For yellow: cadmium, light and dark, yellow ochre, 
light and dark; 

For red: English red, light and dark, Indian red; 

For blue: indigo, ultramarine, cobalt blue; 

For green: cobalt green, light and dark, Bohemian and 
Veronese earth; 

For white tones: zinc white. 

The bromoil printer obviously does not need all these. 
One representative of each group will be quite sufficient, 
and I should state that when colors are obtainable in 
both light and dark shades, the light one should always 
be chosen. 

The colors must be very finely ground; it will not be 
necessary, or only exceptionally, to prepare the powder 
colors oneself, for they can be obtained commercially in 
every high grade store dealing in painters’ materials. 
If, however, this becomes necessary, then the lumps of 
color should be crushed on a stone or glass with a flat 
muller, and the coarse granular masses thus formed 
kneaded with a little water, or, better still, some alcohol 
and then thoroughly ground. The mass should be al¬ 
lowed to dry thoroughly and the process repeated two or 
three times. The finer the powder is rubbed up in this 
way the finer the tone it will give. The coarse color 
powders, often found in drug stores, are not suitable for 
our purpose; they are used more for industrial purposes. 

Aniline colors, or those brightened with anilines, should 
be absolutely avoided, as they stain the gelatine and 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


184 

thus spoil the print. On the other hand I call the at¬ 
tention of all bromoil printers to the pastel colors, which 
can be used with excellent results. They offer many 
advantages over the powder colors, since among the 
hundreds of color shades, in which they can be obtained, 
it is easy to choose that which is most suited for the 
subject. The tints are ready to use, while with the 
powder colors the desired tint can only be obtained by 
mixtures. These colors have the further advantage of 
covering much more strongly, even to obtaining brush 
texture; they are somewhat more difficult to apply to 
the print, because of the fact that they are mixed with 
a medium which is from its nature not so well adapted 
to our process. Those, however, who have well mastered 
the brush technique, will easily overcome this small 
hindrance. 

If the pastel colors are used one should only take 
those of reliable manufacture, such as those made ac¬ 
cording to Mengs’ formulas, which are everywhere 
obtainable under the name of Meng's pastel pencils, 
though this does not mean that those of other makes 
will not give excellent results. 

The Rubbing Plate. — For this we use a thick 
plate glass slab, ground on one side, about 15 by 20 cm 
(6X8 in.). 

Pestle or Muller. — A pestle of glass is the best. 
The head must be round, not flattish, and have a matt 
surface. 

Spatulas. — It is necessary to have a flexible spatula 
(palette knife) about 1 cm (f in.) wide and a stiff one, 
an ink or putty knife, about 4 to 5 cm (1^ to 2 in.) wide. 

Now that we have become conversant with all the 
necessary materials, I come to the: 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 185 

Practice of Ink Grinding. — As I have mentioned 
above, the purpose of the work is to obtain an ink of 
as stiff a character as possible. To this purpose, after 
the vessel in which the varnish is kept has been allowed 
to stand at least 10 minutes in hot water, or an hour in 
winter, we remove from it by means of a wood or glass 
rod a very small quantity of the varnish, spread it on 
a glass plate and rub it with the pestle so that it covers 
a surface of 3 to four qcm sq. in.). To the var¬ 

nish thus spread out we add with the flexible spatula 
a small quantity, about as much as will lie on the end 
of a pocket knife blade, of the powder color and rub 
it with the pestle until certain that the color is absolutely 
mixed in. If too little color has been taken, more 
should be added and rubbed again until a firm doughy 
mass is obtained which has a slaty and not oily gloss, 
and can scarcely be worked with the pestle. Now with 
the springy spatula the whole ink mass is pushed 
together from the edges to the middle to make a little 
heap, and the ink that remains on the pestle scraped 
off and added to it; the whole mass should then be 
again worked up with the pestle and this procedure re¬ 
peated two or three times. Then the ink is ready. It 
must be so hard that a brush set into a small quantity 
of the ink that has been taken from the heap with the 
stiff spatula and spread out in a thin film, neither takes 
up the ink nor gives it up again to white paper. In 
order to make it fit for use, one must add to this thin 
film one small drop, not more, of pure linseed or poppy 
oil, petroleum, light copper-plate printing varnish, or 
medium, and mix it well with the ink with the stiff 
spatula. Petroleum can be highly recommended for the 
softening medium. One can use the ordinary lamp 


i86 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


petroleum, but the so-called purified petroleum is better. 
It ought only to be added to the ink drop by drop. 
Now the brush will take up and give up the ink. If it 
should not be sufficiently soft, the procedure should be 
repeated, but always carefully, so that too much linseed 
oil is not added and thus the ink made too soft. If we 
use the pastel instead of the powder colors it is not 
necessary to break these up first. Small pieces broken 
from the pencils dissolve readily in the varnish. It 
would seem permissible to assume that the whole work 
of dilution with linseed oil could be saved by not adding 
so much color to the varnish, but by proceeding with 
the inking-up as soon as the ink is taken up by the 
brush, but this is not the case . 

As I have stated above under “ Varnish,” every de¬ 
gree of consistency of the varnish requires a definite 
quantity of color. If one adds too little color, the paste 
will be too soft for bromoil printing, and cannot be 
spread. Too much color is hardly possible with the 
stiffest consistency; the limit lies when the color no 
longer dissolves in the varnish. Too little, on the other 
hand, results in the ink smearing on the print. It is, 
therefore, absolutely necessary in using very thick varnish 
to absolutely saturate it with color. Not going far enough 
in this direction , or the omission of the preliminary 
warming of the varnish, are the only sources of failure. 
In working with varnish of lighter consistency, it will 
be necessary to stop the addition of color as soon as the 
slaty gloss appears. 

If the grinding of the ink were to require as long as 
it takes to read this description, the waste of time would 
be considerable. Actually the whole work may be 
carried out in two or three minutes if one uses the 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 187 

methods suggested, and after a little experience is 
gained, which soon comes after a few trials. Long be¬ 
fore the water for the bromoil print is hot, the ink will 
be ready. 

Ink Mixing. — As it is not always possible to use 
existing colors, and it is necessary in many cases to alter 
the shades for artistic effects, the basic colors must be 
diluted with other colors. This can be effected in many 
ways, best by adding another color to the predominant 
color powder during the mixing. Bone black is specially 
valuable for this purpose. This is by itself an unpleas¬ 
ant color, for it is a discordant brown-black which can 
hardly be used alone. If other colors, however, are 
added to this bone black it produces beautiful tones. 
Thus, for instance, the addition of a minimum of blue 
(indigo or ultramarine) gives a deep , velvety black; if 
a little more blue is added, we obtain a beautiful blue- 
black. A little bone black mixed with burnt umber 
gives a fine warm black , and so on. 

The tone of crayon sauce is especially beautiful, if it 
is used without the addition of any other color, and 
especially that quality obtainable under the name of 
Sauce Velours is particularly excellent. 

Another kind of color mixture is that in which black 
is taken as the fundamental color (which is desirable 
when it is not desired to mix up ink for each print) and 
then instead of diluting the stiff ink with linseed oil or 
other diluent, an ordinary good copper-plate ink or 
even ordinary oil colors are used. By this method of 
working I can shade and soften in one operation, and it 
is highly advisable to use it when it is desired to obtain 
different tints easily. The method of mixing is very im¬ 
portant and I will therefore give some examples. If 


i88 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


to the stiff black ink (bone black), I add a little indigo 
oil color, I have at once a deep black; the addition of 
Vandyke brown or burnt umber gives a magnificent 
brown; a fine dark green is obtained with light cad¬ 
mium; this dark green becomes blue-green when I 
add a little indigo. An admixture of caput mortuum 
shows violet tones; red tube colors, such as Indian or 
Pompeian red, ochre, etc., give various reddish brown 
nuances. These additions can be varied in manifold 
ways, dependent only on what tube colors are at hand. 
It is strictly necessary, however, that only the least pos¬ 
sible quantity of tube color should be added, about as 
much as the head of a good-sized pin, to keep the ink 
from becoming too soft and going beyond the desired 
tint. When a suitable shade has been attained, all 
further dilution must be effected with linseed oil, petro¬ 
leum, etc. When I specially recommended the Mussini 
or Fiedler colors, it was because they are prepared with 
resin oils and are therefore specially suitable for our 
purpose. But all other good oil colors can be used. 
When I write briefly only oil colors, I mean obviously 
artists 1 oil colors, and not others which may be used for 
other purposes than for artistic painting. 

Finally the black may be diluted with linseed oil to 
the usable consistency of hard ink and also diluted on 
another part of the palette with oil color or copper-plate 
ink of another shade to the consistency of a soft ink, 
and then both colors may be mixed either on the print or 
in the brush. 

Very fine gradations may also be produced as follows: 
the bromoil print is pigmented as usual to obtain as 
clear shadows and clean high lights as possible, with not 
too high a relief. When the print is completely finished, 


PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 189 

it should be placed in a 2 per cent cold solution of am¬ 
monia, this allowed to act for two minutes and then 
rinsed for one minute in clean water. Then the print, 
which is considerably swollen, should be very carefully 
dried off, so that no ink comes off on the cloth, and the 
latter leaves no imprint of its structure. Now the whole 
print is gone over with a clean brush, on which is a very 
little pure oil color. By thus using light, transparent 
(lasur) colors, and only such ought to be used for this 
purpose, the print may be given an extremely delicate 
film of ink, through which the first image shines with 
full vigor. This gives an effect similar to that which 
the gum printer obtains by multiple printing. 

According to whether the whole or only parts of the 
print are gone over with the “ lasur ” color, the most 
varied effects are obtained, such as deepening of the 
shadows, or lowering of the high lights, or both. 

It is naturally impossible to describe this process ex¬ 
actly in print. Much must be left to artistic feeling, 
without which hair-raising color discords will prob¬ 
ably be produced. Still, in order to give the beginner 
some starting point, it may be mentioned that black, 
brown or red tones may be easily treated with inks 
shaded towards grey, blue with pure grey, and so on. 

The following summary of color mixtures for the be¬ 
ginner is also given: red-brown is obtained by mixing 
bone black, Indian red, and possibly dark alizarin lake; 
violet results from bone black with red and blue; dark 
green, from black, cadmium and blue; brownish-green, 
from black and indigo; bright green, from a little black 
with cadmium and indigo; red chalk, from black, brown 
and Indian red. 

The individual tints will obviously vary considerably, 


BROMOIL PRINTING 


190 

according as more or less of any given color is taken. 
This is entirely a matter of taste and must be left to the 
judgment of the individual. 

When the stiff ink is ready on the glass plate, it is 
advisable to carry out all further manipulations on a 
white porcelain palette or tile, because the mixtures can 
be much more easily judged in tone and consistency on 



Fig. 4 


these white supports. The mixtures are best made with 
the stiff spatula (putty knife). 

Permanency. — The permanency of home-made inks 
prepared by oneself is satisfactory if they are preserved 
from dust and air. My inks have kept for periods ex¬ 
ceeding three months, with the most satisfactory results. 

Ink-Grinding Machines. — For all ordinary pur- 







PREPARATION OF BROMOIL INKS 191 

poses the inks prepared in the manner just described 
are perfectly satisfactory. For inks, however, which 
must be extremely fine this method of mixing is not 
sufficient, therefore, I had a small machine constructed 
(Fig. 4), which consists of two rollers turning in oppo¬ 
site directions. The hand-ground inks are placed on 
these rollers and kneaded with strong pressure for two 
or three minutes. The whole machine is 25 cm high and 
20 cm wide (10 X 8 in.), and can be conveniently 
fastened on the corner of any table. The resultant inks 
are of a fineness and quality which have not been bet¬ 
tered by large manufacturers. 

Additions to the Inks. — If it is desired that the 
inks should dry matt on the bromoil print, so that the 
defatting with benzol may be omitted, then one should 
add to the home-made inks a small quantity of one of 
the following mixtures: 

(a) Beeswax 1 g (15 gr.); melt by heat and add 
with stirring 20 drops of linseed oil. As it cools a salve¬ 
like mass is formed. Or: 

(b) 1 g (15 gr.) kieselguhr (infusorial earth) rubbed 
up with linseed oil to a quite thin fluid paste. 

It should be noted that these mixtures, in consequence 
of their content of linseed oil, make the inks softer. 


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Practical Color Photography, by E. J. Wall, F.C.S., F.R.P.S. 
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Edited by Frank R. Fraprie, S.M., F.R.P.S. 

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5. How to Make Enlargements. 

6. How to Make Portraits. 

7. How to Make Lantern Slides. 

8. The Elements of Photography. 

9. Practical Retouching. 

10. Practical Printing Processes. 

11. Modem Development. 

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American Photography Exposure Tables, 101st thousand. Cloth, 
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American Photography, a monthly magazine, representing all that 
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